North American currant species

[luzula]

Americans! (And others, I suppose, but the plants are native to America.) Have you tasted any of the following, and if so, what did you think of the taste?

- Ribes aureum (according to Wikipedia known as golden currant/clove currant/pruterberry/buffalo currant)
- Ribes divaricatum (the variety known as black honey-berry)
- Ribes cynosbati (apparently tastes of violets?)

Also, are these species, which seem to grow wild and be native to North America, subject to a lot of plant breeding such that there are lots of domesticated breeds, as there are with Ribes species native to Europe such as black currant, red currant and gooseberry? I found these American species for sale at German plant nurseries and am now tempted...the first two especially sound interesting.

Comments

[conuly]

Americans are very not big on currants, and until very recently you weren't allowed to grow (non-native) currants pretty much anywhere because of fears they harbored a fungus that kills... something, I don't remember what. I remember when they started selling currants and gooseberries at the farmer's market, I'd only had them when visiting relatives before! And I still can only get them from one or two places at the farmer's market.

I had no idea we had any native currants at all.

[luzula]

It seems that indigenous food cultures included those native currants, so it seems a shame that most people don't eat them now!

*searches the internet* Ah, okay. It seems that currants were/are a host of a rust disease which kills pines, which explains the ban.