Common Name: Coastal Black Gooseberry

General Information

Ribes divaricatum is an erect to spreading, prickly deciduous shrub that can grow 100 - 300cm tall[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food, medicine and source of materials. It is cultivated for its sweet and juicy fruits in N. America and is also used as a sheltering hedge and a rootstock for currants and gooseberries in Germany[]. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental, where it can be used as a hedge.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

, ,

Range

Western N. America - British Colombia, Washington, Oregon.

Habitat

Stream-sides, woods, open forests, edges of meadows, thickets, roadsides, fencerows; at elevations up to 600 metres[]. Open woods, prairies and moist hillsides[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Deciduous Shrub
Height	2.00 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild

Cultivation Details

Ribes divaricatum 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[, ]. Requires a very sunny position if it is to do well[].
Sometimes cultivated for its edible fruit, there is at least one named variety[].
This species is closely allied to Ribes rotundifolium[].
Hybrids between Ribes divaricatum and Ribes niveum; and also Ribes divaricatum and Ribes lobbii have been propagated for the horticultural trade[].
Immune to mildew[].
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[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw or cooked[, , , , ]. Sweet and juicy[, ]. A very acceptable flavour, though a bit on the acid side[]. It is considered to be one of the finest wild N. American gooseberries[]. The fruit is sometimes harvested before it is fully ripe and then cooked[]. The purplish-black, subglobose fruit is about 6 - 12mm in diameter[, ]. On the wild species the fruit can hang on the plant until the autumn (if the birds leave it alone)[].

Young leaves and unripe fruits are used to make a sauce[].

Medicinal

The inner bark has been chewed, and the juice swallowed, as a treatment for colds and sore throats[].
A decoction of the bark or the root has been used as an eye wash for sore eyes[]. An infusion of the roots has been used in the treatment of sore throats, venereal disease and tuberculosis[].
The burnt stems have been rubbed on neck sores[].

Agroforestry Uses:

The plant has been used to form a sheltering hedge[].

Other Uses

The plant has been used in gooseberry breeding programmes[]. this species is a parent of many mildew resistant hybrids and is being used in breeding programmes in Europe[].

The roots have been boiled with cedar (Juniperus species and Thuja species) and wild rose (Rosa species) roots, then pounded and woven into rope[].

The sharp thorns have been used as probes for boils, for removing splinters and for tattooing[].

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 0 to 9°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[, ].