Golden Currant vs American Black Currant - TreeTime.ca

Golden Currant vs American Black Currant

Ribes aureum

Ribes americanum

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

Golden Currant
American Black Currant

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.

American Black Currant is a native deciduous shrub known for its clusters of small black berries that ripen in mid-to-late summer. The berries are edible and have long been used for fresh eating, preserves, and baking. They provide food for birds and mammals, and their fragrant spring flowers attract bees and other pollinators.

American Black Currant’s foliage serves as a host plant for butterfly species such as the Green Comma and Gray Comma, and its dense branching offers cover for wildlife. The shrub has traditionally been planted in shelterbelts, riparian buffers, and restoration projects.

Golden Currant Quick Facts

American Black Currant Quick Facts

Zone: 4a
Zone: 2a
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Height: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Growth form: upright to spreading, thicket-forming
Spreading: seeds - medium
Suckering: medium
Maintenance: medium


Fall colour: reddish purple
Fall colour: gold to red
Flowers: yellow
Flowers: small, yellowish bell-shaped, in clusters
Bloom time: spring to early summer
Berries: glossy black berries
Berries: black, edible
Flavor: tart, variable
Harvest: mid to late summer
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC
Native to: AB, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB
Other Names: buffalo currant, clove currant, fragrant golden currant, golden flowering currant, spicebush
Other Names: eastern black currant, wild black currant