Summary ⁶

Ribes aureum, known commonly as golden currant, clove currant, pruterberry, and buffalo currant, is a species in the genus Ribes and is native to most of North America. It is a small to medium-sized deciduous shrub with leaves that turn red in autumn.

Botanical Information ⁷

Golden currant is native to Canada, the western United States, and northern Mexico. The common name, golden currant describes two different varieties: Ribes aureum var aureum and Ribes aureum var gracillmum. The aureum variety grows in high mountains and grows upright while the gracillmum variety grows in the coast and foothills and tends to grow closer to the ground in a sprawling form.

It is a shrub around 6ft tall with twigs that are a reddish-brown color. Its leaves are green, small, wide, and smooth and have 3 distinct lobes. It loses its leaves during the winter. The flowers bloom in the spring from April to early June. They are in clusters of 3-10 bright yellow flowers with a spicy, pleasant scent similar to cloves and vanilla. The center of the flowers has a reddish color. The golden currant has smooth round berries that are yellow, red, or black when mature. They are sweet and edible.

Ecological Information ⁷

In New Mexico, the golden currant is found along margins of streams where it is commonly moist at an elevation of about 6,500 - 9,000 ft. When thriving it self-seeds and spreads out from the original plant and serves as a ground cover. The golden currant prefers full sunlight and grows better where there is groundwater however it can tolerate standing water to drought and is considered an adaptable plant. This shrub attracts songbirds and pollinating insects. Due to its edible fruit birds, rodents and bears use the golden currant as one of their food sources while the flowers provide a source of nectar for butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.

Ethnobotanical Information ⁸

The fruit of the golden currant is edible for humans.

References ⁸

https://calscape.org/Ribes-aureum-(Golden-Currant)
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=riau
USDA, Natural Resouces Conservation Service. (2019, June 02). Plant Guide, Golden Currant. https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_riau.pdf

About the Author ⁷

Student author(s)*: Jennifer D. from Atrisco Heritage High School

*The entries in this field guide have been edited by Yerba Mansa Project staff to ensure that they contain quality, fact-checked content and standardized formatting. https://yerbamansaproject.org/

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Sharon Lee, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/119714073@N07/49585104201/
2. (c) Margrit, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/27126314@N03/41739908042/
3. (c) Andrey Zharkikh, some rights reserved (CC BY), https://www.flickr.com/photos/zharkikh/6678884619/
4. (c) Jim Morefield, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/30584439421/
5. (c) JKehoe_Photos, some rights reserved (CC BY-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnjkehoe_photography/49480068977/
6. Adapted by caseynm from a work by (c) Jordy Hicks, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
7. Adapted by albuquerqueherbalism from a work by (c) caseynm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
8. Adapted by Hannah from a work by (c) caseynm, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Calflora
• CalPhotos
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Jepson eFlora
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• OregonFlora.org
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online

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