Golden Currant vs Black Elderberry - TreeTime.ca

Golden Currant vs Black Elderberry

Ribes aureum

Sambucus canadensis

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Golden Currant
Black Elderberry

Golden Currant produces berries for jams, jellies, sauces and even pemmican. This currant bush is very dense, allowing for use as a hedge, windbreak, or wildlife habitat.

This plant is also a very popular rootstock to graft popular red and white currant varieties to. The resulting plants are taller, more productive, and easier to harvest.

Black Elderberry is a deciduous shrub native to eastern North America. You can plant this shrub in moist areas and it will help stabilize your soil. You can also use it on rural properties anywhere you'd use a lilac.

Black Elderberries are considered to be partially self-pollinating. So while they will still produce some berries without cross-pollination, planting with another variety will increase yields. Consider planting with Ranch Elderberry or Bob Gordon Elderberry.

Warning: the seeds, stems, leaves, roots, and uncooked berries of the Black Elderberry are poisonous to humans when eaten in quantity. You should cook the berries to make them safe for human consumption.

Golden Currant Quick Facts

Black Elderberry Quick Facts

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Zone: 4a
Zone: 3a
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Height: 3 m (10 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: any
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no
Fall colour: reddish purple
Berries: glossy black berries
Berries: black
Flowers: yellow
Flowers: fragrant, white and showy
Bark: gray brownish with rigid bumps
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: medium
Suckering: medium




Toxicity: leaves, stems, and uncooked berries are poisonous to humans
Other Names: buffalo currant, clove currant, fragrant golden currant, golden flowering currant, spicebush
Other Names: american black elderberry, american elderberry, canada elderberry, common elderberry