Ribes uva-crispa L.

Deciduous, armed, non-aromatic shrub usually 0.5-1.5-(2.5) m high; nodes furnished with (1)-3, stiff, straight spines; branches and shoots spreading to erect, glabrous except when young. Lvs plicately folded in bud, with petioles to 5 cm long, not clasping at base; lamina ± broadly deltoid to subreniform, (1.5)-2-6 × 2-7 cm, usually smaller on flowering stems (where the lvs are on short spurs), palmately-lobed, usually hairy beneath, sometimes glabrate, flat and slightly shining above; base truncate to cordate; lobes shallow to deep, 3-5, broadly ovate, oblong-ovate or obovate, with secondary lobes, deeply toothed. Fls solitary or in clusters of 2-4, not fragrant. Hypanthium 3-4 mm diam., ± globose, pale greenish, glandular. Sepals 3-6 mm long, oblong or elliptic-oblong, green, often with red flush or red margin, ± hairy outside, reflexed at anthesis. Petals 1.5-2 mm long, suborbicular or broadly obovate, white. Filaments 2-3 mm long. Fr. 10-25 mm diam. (to 30 mm in cultivation), globose to broadly or oblong-ellipsoid, green, yellow or sometimes dark red, translucent, lacking bloom, hispid and sometimes with soft hairs, or glabrous; flesh becoming sweet.

It is a temperate plant. It grows on many soils. It can tolerate frost. They fruit well in cooler climates. They do well in medium to heavy well-drained soils. It grows in the high mountain belt in the Caucasus. It grows between 1,500-2,200 m above sea level. It is restricted in Canada and the USA because it helps spread white-pine blister-rust. They can be grown in the hills in Java. It suits hardiness zones 5-9.

The fruit can be eaten raw, stewed or made into jam. The unripe fruit are often used for pies and tarts.

They can be grown from seed. They are best grown from cuttings.