Common Name: Wax Currant

General Information

Ribes cereum is a deciduous shrub of rounded, compact habit. The stems can be spreading or arching to erect; the plant growing 20 - 200cm tall[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and sometimes as a medicine. Selected forms are sometimes cultivated as a fruit crop[], and the plant is also grown as an ornamental.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Western N. America - British Colmbia and Alberta, south to California, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma

Habitat

Canyons, dry ravines, hillsides, prairies and open woodland[]. Open forests, dry shrublands, rocky slopes, cliffs; at elevations from 100 - 4,000 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Shrub
Height	1.50 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Ribes cereum is very cold hardy, when dormant it can tolerate temperatures falling to around -20°c[].
Easily grown in a moisture retentive but well-drained loamy soil of at least moderate quality[, ]. Succeeds in a wide range of soils[]. Requires a sunny position for best fruit production[].
A very ornamental and free-flowering plant, it is often grown in gardens[].
The plant has often been cultivated for its edible fruit in N. America[].
The plant can start fruiting within 3 years from seed[].
An aromatic plant wih a notably spicy odour[].
The plant is not very tolerant of fire, being killed or severely damaged even in low-severity fires. In the wild it usually regenerates freely by seed after a fire, the fire promoting germination[].
White pine blister rust, caused by the pathogen Cronartium ribicola, is a fungal disease that is native to Asia but has spread via human activity to many other regions, where it has become more virulent. It has a complex life-cycle that requires both currants (Ribes species) and white pines (Pinus species of the section Strobus) for the disease to spread. Whilst Ribes species can generally live with the disease (it has an annual life-cycle and infects the leaves only) Pinus species can be devastated by it (it becomes perennial and spreads through the tree). Young pines are far more susceptible than mature trees. In America the growing of certain Ribes species is banned in some areas in order to protect plantations of white pine species.
Plants in this genus tend to be notably susceptible to honey fungus[].
This species is related to Ribes viscosissimum[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw or cooked[, , , ]. Not very nice, large quantities can cause nausea[]. Tasteless[]. Reports on the quality of the fruit range from insipid and rubbery to highly esteemed as an article of diet[]. The fruit can also be used to make pemmican, jellies, jams, sauces and pies[]. Fruits can also be dried for later use[]. The dull to bright red or orange-red, ovoid fruit is 5 - 12mm in diameter[].

Young leaves[]. No more details are given.

Flowers - raw[]. A sweet flavour[].

Medicinal

An infusion of the inner bark has been used as a wash for sore eyes[].

The fruit has been eaten in quantity as an emetic[]. It has also been used to treat diarrhoea[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant is a natural pioneer species within its native range, providing favourable conditions for the establishment of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)[].

Other Uses

This species is being used in modern blackcurrant breeding programmes, valued particularly for its restance to disease[].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 4 - 5 months cold stratification at between -2 to 0°c and should be sown as early in the year as possible[, ]. Under normal storage conditions the seed can remain viable for 17 years or more. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter, planting them out in late spring of the following year
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 10 - 15cm with a heel, mid summer in a frame[, ].
Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, preferably with a heel of the previous year's growth, late autumn to late winter in a cold frame or sheltered bed outdoors[, ].