Common Name:
WILD BLACK CURRANT
|
Coefficient of Conservatism:
6
Coefficient of Wetness:
-3
Wetness Index:
FACW
Physiognomy:
Nt Shrub
R. W. Smith
In a diversity of open forests and thickets, mostly moist, including beech-maple forests, swamps (deciduous or cedar), and old tamarack stands, as well as marshy sites and banks of streams and lakes. The flowers are fairly large and conspicuous, and numerous in many racemes. The fruit is considered quite palatable when cooked.
Most species of Ribes can be distinguished by vegetative characters alone, although these are not always easily expressed in a key. The leaves in R. americanum are usually glandular-dotted above as well as beneath, whereas in R. hudsonianum the leaves are gland-dotted only beneath. The leaf shapes are indistinguishable. Vegetative plants from the range of R. hudsonianum without glands on the upper surfaces of the leaf blades cannot safely be named when dry, although fresh foliage of R. americanum lacks the strong scent of R. hudsonianum and R. nigrum.