Ribes lacustre

Ribes lacustre

This entry is about another member of the gooseberry/current genus. Ribes lacustre is commonly known as swamp gooseberry. But some people call it swamp current, even though it has spines like a gooseberry.

It is a small spiny shrub, with smallish maple-like leaves and black berries. The flowers come in clusters of 5-12, not all of which will get pollinated and turn into berries, but you will see several black berries along with some empty stems. It looks a lot like Ribes montigenum (Mountain Gooseberry), except that the berries are black and the upper leaf surface is shiny. It also prefers wet areas, whereas Ribes montigenum prefers drier ground. I usually find Ribes lacustre next to streams, not in swamps. ("lacustre" refers to lakes.)

The taste of these berries is unfortunately rather bitter. I have occasionally found a bush with sweet berries, or with some sweet and some bitter, but most of the time they are bitter. I even searched them out at the very end of the season, when they would be the most ripe. Most of the berries had fallen off and the leaves where fading and starting to turn colors, but the remaining berries were still bitter.

I will try these berries when I find them to see if I get lucky and find some sweet ones, but generally I do not recommend them because of the bitter taste.