Identify The Flowering Currant

FLOWERING CURRANT / SPRING / SUMMER / EDIBLE

COMMON NAMES

Flowering Currant

BOTANICAL NAME

Ribes sanguineum

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Root –  Not of interest.

Stems/Bark – The bark is dark brown to grey with pale brown lenticels.

Leaves – It has palmately lobed leaves that give off a sweet herbal aroma when crushed.

Flowers – The flowers are ‘dangling’ racemes that almost look like grapes before they open. When opened the flowers are pink to red with a similar smell to the leaves.

Seeds/Fruit – The berries darken to a purple/red colour.

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

Kingdom – Plantae

Order – Saxifragales

Family – Grossulariaceae

Genus – Ribes

KNOWN HAZARDS

None known.

COULD BE CONFUSED WITH 

Other members of the rubes family, for example blackcurrant but these are also edible.

RANGE AND DISTRIBUTION

A native to North America it has naturalized in the UK and can be found almost everywhere.

HABITAT

Normally found in parks and gardens, but also in hedgerows and waste ground where it has escaped.

EDIBLE USES

The flowers have a delicious floral flavour, they can be added to salads or desserts. They can be used to make a cordial or syrup by simply infusing them in a sugar syrup and gently heating. They are amazing infused in alcohol for example gin to make a lovely addition to your drinks cabinet.

Identification is key!

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