Blackcurrant can damage both unopened and open flowers when the temperature falls below . The flowers at the base of the strig are more protected by the foliage and are less likely to be damaged. In midsummer the strigs of green fruit ripen to edible berries, very dark purple in colour, almost black, with glossy skins and persistent calyxes at the apex, each containing many seeds. An established bush can produce about 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds) of fruit each year. Plants from Northern Asia are sometimes distinguished as a separate variety, "Ribes nigrum" var. "sibiricum", of which "Ribes cyathiforme" is considered
Ribes oxyacanthoides found in mountain talus. This plant is an alternate host for the white pine blister rust ("Cronartium ribicola"), the vector of a pine tree disease. It is sometimes eradicated in attempts to control the rust. Small amounts of this shrub and its fruit are present in the diets of wildlife species such as grizzly bear and mule deer. Humans find it "more or less palatable". Many Native American groups collected and stored it for food. The Ojibwa cooked and ate it with sweet corn and made it into preserves, for example. The root was used medicinally. Ribes oxyacanthoides Ribes oxyacanthoides