How do you recognise Redcurrant (Ribes rubrum)?

Leaf

Mathieu MENAND, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Redcurrant

Ribes rubrum L.

Also known as: Red currant

Family: Grossulariaceae

1 to 1.5 m tall

Cool hedgerows, light woodland, often cultivated

Flowering: April – May

Full sun

Part shade

Very hardy, to -20°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

Pendent clusters of small translucent red berries — without the spines of the gooseberry. Redcurrant has thornless branches like blackcurrant, but its bright red fruits in pendent racemes clearly distinguish it; blackcurrant leaves are recognised by the characteristic resinous smell they give off when crushed.

🍃 Leaves

Palmate, 3 to 5 toothed lobes, somewhat like a gooseberry leaf

🌸 Flowers

Small, greenish, in inconspicuous pendent racemes

🍎 Fruits

Clusters of small translucent red berries, tart

🪵 Bark

Grey-brown, thornless

🗺️ Distribution

Europe; cultivated throughout France, also wild at cool woodland edges and in damp woods.

🐝 Value for pollinators

Inconspicuous greenish nectar-bearing flowers, visited by bees in spring.

✂️ Horticultural uses

Grown in the fruit garden for its clusters of redcurrants.

⚠️ Possible toxicity

No known toxicity; fruits edible.

⚠️ Look-alike species

Redcurrant

Ribes rubrum

Blackcurrant

Ribes nigrum

Redcurrant has thornless branches like blackcurrant, but its bright red fruits in pendent racemes clearly distinguish it; blackcurrant leaves are recognised by the characteristic resinous smell they give off when crushed.

Redcurrant

Ribes rubrum

Gooseberry

Ribes uva-crispa

Redcurrant has no spines and its fruits are small and red, in pendent racemes, whereas gooseberry has spiny branches and larger fruits, solitary or in pairs.

Redcurrant

Ribes rubrum

Alpine currant

Ribes alpinum

Alpine currant resembles redcurrant in its thornless habit and small red berries, but its greenish-yellow flowers are gathered in upright (not pendent) racemes, its leaves are smaller and not aromatic when crushed, and above all its berries are bland and of no culinary interest, unlike those of the redcurrant.

🌿 Other Grossulariaceae to discover

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.