Blackcurrant material from the gooseberry ("Ribes grossularia"), the red currant ("Ribes rubrum") and the flowering currant ("Ribes sanguineum"). The resulting offspring were further back-crossed to "R. nigrum". Cultivars produced include 'Tisel' and 'Tiben' in 2000 and 'Ores', 'Ruben' and 'Tines' in 2005. Further cultivars 'Polares' and 'Tihope' are being tested. Since 1991, New Zealand has become an important centre for research and development, as its temperate climate is particularly suitable for cultivation of the crop. Breeding programmes are concentrating on yield, large fruit size, consistency of cropping and upright habit. In North America, there is a need for this fruit to
Ribes roezlii flowers hanging pendent from the branches. Each flower has five reflexed red-purple sepals around a tube-shaped ring of smaller white or pinkish petals, the stamens and stigmas protruding. The fruit is a red or purple berry up to 2.5 centimeters long which is covered in thick, long spines. Among other currants and gooseberries with overlapping ranges, such as mountain gooseberry ("Ribes montigenum") or wax currant ("Ribes cereum"), the sierra gooseberry is especially notable for the large size and extreme spininess of its berries, and for the absence of a noticeable dried flower remnant at the end of the fruit. Seeds