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
Ribes triste June and July. The fruit is a bright red berry, without the hairs that some currants have. The fruit is edible but rather sour. It is listed as endangered in Connecticut and Ohio, and as threatened in Pennsylvania. Ribes is listed a plant pest in Michigan and the planting of it in certain parts of the state is prohibited. Alaska Natives use the fruit as food, eating it raw, and making the berries into jam and jellies. Eskimos eat the berries and the Inupiat eat them raw or cooked, mix them with other berries which are used to make a