Herb: Jostaberry


Latin name: Ribes x culverwellii


Family: Grossulariaceae (Currant Family)



Edible parts of Jostaberry:

Fruit - raw or cooked in pies, jams etc. Intermediate in size and flavour between gooseberries and blackcurrants, tasting more like a gooseberry when under-ripe and more like a blackcurrant when fully ripe. The fruit is rich in vitamin C.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Deciduous
Shrub

Height:
180 cm
(6 feet)

Flowering:
April
to May

Habitat of the herb:

Not known in the wild.

Propagation of Jostaberry:

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 3 months cold stratification at between 0 and 5°C and should be sown as early in the year as possible. Under normal storage conditions the seed can remain viable for 17 years or more. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter, planting them out in late spring of the following year. This plant is a cultivar and will not breed true from seed. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 10 - 15cm with a heel, July/August in a frame. Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, preferably with a heel of the previous year's growth, November to February in a cold frame or sheltered bed outdoors.

Cultivation of the herb:

Not known in the wild.

Medicinal use of Jostaberry:

None known

Known hazards of Ribes x culverwellii:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.