Currant

Rosales
Saxifragaceae
Ribes

Smooth Gooseberry
ribes birtellum

European Gooseberry
ribes grossularia

Bristly Currant
ribes lacustre

Skunk Currant
ribes glandulosum

American Black Currant
ribes americanum

Black Currant
ribes nigrum

In many areas of North America,
currants and gooseberries are not very common,
and found only in small isolated patches.

Currants and gooseberries are generally low shrubs
with long, sparsely branched stems.
Stems often arching, like those of brambles.
Honey bees and bumble bees are the main pollinators,
possibly attrscted to slight fragrance produced by the blooms.
Insects come to gather pollen and nectar.

Gooseberries generally have large thorns along their
stems just beneath each leaf node,
while currants are usually thornless.

Use of fruits by wildlife Small mammals, mice, moles,
tend to disgard the pulp and knaw into the seeds.
Birds, the main dispersers of the plants, and eats
the whole fruit, and seeds pass through their systems.
Tests done on the seed a of gooseberries show that they
germinate more readily after passing through the digestive
system of certain species of birds.

Many Eurpean species of Ribes have been brought
to North America, their fruits are well loved in pies and jellies.
Many plants have escaped
from gardens and now growing wild.


Source(s)
The Natural History of Wild Shrubs and Vines,
by Donald W. Stokes