Jostaberry Jostaberry The jostaberry ("Ribes" × "nidigrolaria") is a complex-cross fruit bush in the genus "Ribes", involving three original species, the black currant "R. nigrum", the North American coastal black gooseberry "R. divaricatum", and the European gooseberry "R. uva-crispa". It is similar to "Ribes × culverwellii", the Jochelbeere, which is descended from just two of these species, "R. nigrum" and "R. uva-crispa". The cultivated plants are tetraploid. They are descended from two separate first-generation crosses, both of which produced very few fruit. Fertile tetraploids were produced using colchicine. The name "Jostaberry" was created via combining the German words for blackcurrant and
Solanum nigrum in the unripe green berries, and immature fruit should be treated as toxic. Most cases of suspected poisoning are due to consumption of leaves or unripe fruit. There are ethnobotanical accounts of "S. nigrum" leaves and shoots being boiled as a vegetable with the cooking water being discarded and replaced several times to remove toxins. Some of the uses ascribed to "S. nigrum" in literature may actually apply to other black nightshade species within the same species complex, and proper species identification is essential for food and medicinal uses (See "Taxonomy" section). "S. nigrum" has been widely used as a