Species Native to Missouri
Common Name: buffalo currant
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Grossulariaceae
Native Range: North America
Zone: 4 to 8
Height: 3.00 to 7.00 feet
Spread: 2.00 to 6.00 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Description: Yellow-orange
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Medium
Suggested Use: Hedge, Naturalize
Flower: Showy, Fragrant
Leaf: Good Fall
Attracts: Birds, Hummingbirds, Butterflies
Fruit: Showy, Edible
Tolerate: Rabbit, Drought, Erosion, Clay Soil
Culture
Best grown in organically rich, fertile, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Tolerates a wide range of soils ranging from dry to seasonally flooded ones. Tolerates poor soils, clay soils and drought. Prefers consistent and even moisture. Avoid overhead watering. Some part afternoon shade is appreciated in hot summer climates, but fewer flowers and fruits are usually produced in part shade conditions. Appreciates a good organic mulch for the root zone. Propagate by cuttings or seed. Spreads by suckers to form colonies in optimum growing conditions.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Ribes aureum, commonly known as golden currant, is an upright, rhizomatous, leathery-leaved, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub that typically grows to 3-7’ tall with a slightly smaller spread. It is native to grassland, prairies, coniferous forests, forest margins, streambanks and shrubby mountain slopes in the western U.S. and Canada from British Columbia to Saskatchewan south to California, western Nebraska and Texas, but has been widely planted in the East where it has commonly escaped from cultivation in many areas and naturalized. Ribes odoratum primarily native from Minnesota and South Dakota south to Louisiana and Texas, is closely related to the species herein and is now being listed in some references as Ribes aureum var. villosum.
Notable features of the species include: (a) three-lobed broad-ovate to rounded glossy light green leaves (1-2” long) which turn reddish-purple in fall; (b) drooping 5-15 flowered clusters (wand-like racemes) of monoecious, narrow-tubular, spicily-fragrant, yellow-maturing-to-orange flowers which bloom in April-May; (c) drooping clusters of glossy, black, edible, 1/3” fruits (currants) which ripen mid to late summer (July-August); (d) spineless twigs; (e) dark silver-gray bark.
Golden currant is primarily grown as an ornamental shrub rather than for harvest of its fruit. The fruit should not be overlooked, however, because it can be eaten raw from the shrub or made into juices, jams, jellies, tarts or pies.
The genus name Ribes is derived from the Arabic ribas, the name used for Rheum ribes (Syrian rhubarb), an unrelated, wild rhubarb species. European herbalists possibly connected the two due to the acidic flavor of the flowering stem of R. ribes, or the visually similar panicles of red fruits.
Specific epithet comes from the Latin word aureus meaning golden in reference to flower color.
Problems
In wet, humid conditions, anthracnose, powdery mildew and fungal leaf spot can be troublesome. Currant aphid, scale, currant bud mite and currant fruit fly are potential insect pests in some areas. Currants are an alternate host for white pine blister rust, a usually fatal disease for white pines. Ten states primarily in the eastern United States currently maintain various types of bans on Ribes species plants. Contact your local Extension Service to verify if this plant can be grown in your area. Missouri has no restrictions. Notwithstanding state and local legislation, currants should not be planted in any area where the disease is prevalent. In areas where the disease is not prevalent (such as Missouri), it is still best to avoid planting currents in locations where white pines are growing unless rust-resistant cultivars are used.
Uses
Attractive ornamental hedge in the landscape. It is grown today primarily for its attractive ornamental features (flowers, fruit and foliage) but also for its tasty, edible fruit and edible flowers. Woodland gardens. Dappled shade. Along fence or wall. Wildlife habitat.