Main Page
Final Picture
Ribes odoratum (syn. Ribes aureum var.
villosum) Grossulariaceae
Golden Currant, Missouri Currant, Clove Currant, Buffalo Currant ri-BEEZ o-dor-A-tum
- Deciduous multistemmed shrub, to 6-8 ft (1.8-2.4 m) tall, open, branches without bristles or thorns. Leaves alternate, simple, broadly ovate, 3-6 cm long, 3.5-7 cm wide, 3-5 lobes, coarsely toothed, base truncate or wedge-shaped, green of both side, pubescent on veins below and above. Flowers yellow, often with some red, 5-10 per cluster, fragrant (cloves), tubular, 12 mm long, 5 petals, 5 stamens, style white, 8-10 mm long. Fruit globose, purple-black, 10 mm diameter.
- Sun or part shade.
- Hardy to USDA Zone 4 Native range from North Dakota south to Texas, east to Minnesota and Arkansas.
- Often Ribes odoratum is now considered to be a botanical variety (var.) of R. aureum (R. aureum var. aureum), and named R. aureum var. villosum.
- It is similar to Ribes aureum (possibly more commonly known as the Golden Currant), whose native range is from British Columbia east to Saskatchewan, south to western Nebraska, Colorado, and northwestern Texas, west to Los Angeles, California, and north to the eastern slopes of the Cascade Range. A third variety, Ribes aureum var. gracillimum, syn. Ribes gracillimum, is native to California and into Mexico.