Ireland: Kerry - Dublin - Cork - Waterford - Roscommon - Galway - Belfast
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Black currant
Invasive Species Information
What Is Black currant - (Ribes nigrum)?
Habitat: Terrestrial
Distribution in Ireland:
Status: Established
Family name: Grossulariaceae
Reproduction: Flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees or itself as the plant is self-fertile.
Black currant fruit
Ribes nigrum, the blackcurrant is a medium-sized shrub, growing to 1.5 metres tall by 1.5 metres wide.
The leaves are alternate, simple, 3 to 5 cm broad and long with five palmate lobes and a serrated margin. All parts of the plant are strongly aromatic.
The flowers are produced in racemes known as "strigs" up to 8 cm long containing ten to twenty flowers, each about 8 mm in diameter. Each flower has a hairy calyx with yellow glands, the five lobes of which are longer than the inconspicuous petals.
Black currant flower
Black currants are prized for their strong aroma, flavor, and high vitamin C content. Some cultivars, particularly those that are purely Ribes nigrum, are highly susceptible to WPBR. Resistance has been developed in cultivars by crossing with Ribes nigrum and Ribes ussurienses.
How To Identify Black currant?
Black currant - Ribes nigrum flowers
Leaf: alternate, simple, 3 to 5 cm broad and long with five palmate lobes and a serrated margin.
Flower: Pinkish flower has a hairy calyx with yellow glands and five lobes
Smell: All parts of the plant are strongly aromatic
Black currant leaves
Black currant buds
Why Is Black currant A Problem?
Black currant is an alien (non-native) invasive plant and serves as an alternate hosts for the fungus Cronartium ribicola, which causes white pine blister rust (WPBR), a serious disease of white pine, an important forest and landscape tree.
European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011 non-native invasive plant species A-Z (Updated 2017)
There are currently 35 invasive plant species listed in the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations (annex 2, Part 1)...
Click on a species from the following list to find out more regarding non-native species subject to restrictions under Regulations 49 and 50.
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American Skunk-Cabbage - Lysichiton americanus
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Brazilian Giant-Rhubarb - Gunnera manicata
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Broad-Leaved Rush - Juncus planifolius
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Cape Pondweed - Aponogeton distachyos
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Cord-Grasses - Spartina (all species and hybrids)
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Curly Waterweed - Lagarosiphon major
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Dwarf Eel-Grass - Zostera japonica
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Fanwort - Cabomba caroliniana
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Floating Pennywort - Hydrocotyle ranunculoides
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Fringed Water-Lily - Nymphoides peltata
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Giant Hogweed - Heracleum mantegazzianum
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Giant Knotweed - Fallopia sachalinensis
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Giant-Rhubarb - Gunnera tinctoria
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Giant Salvinia - Salvinia molesta
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Himalayan Balsam - Impatiens glandulifera
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Himalayan Knotweed - Persicaria wallichii
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Hottentot-Fig - Carpobrotus edulis
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Japanese Knotweed - Fallopia japonica
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Large-Flowered Waterweed - Egeria densa
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Mile-a-Minute Weed - Persicaria perfoliata
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New Zealand Pigmyweed - Crassula helmsii
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Parrots Feather - Myriophyllum aquaticum
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Red Alga - Grateloupia doryphora
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Rhododendron - Rhododendron ponticum
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Salmonberry - Rubus spectabilis
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Sea-Buckthorn - Hippophae rhamnoides
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Spanish Bluebell - Hyacinthoides hispanica
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Three-Cornered Leek - Allium triquetrum
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Wakame - Undaria pinnatifida
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Water Chestnut - Trapa natans
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Water Fern - Azolla filiculoides
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Water Lettuce - Pistia stratiotes
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Water-Primrose - Ludwigia (all species)
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Waterweeds - Elodea (all species)
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Wireweed - Sargassum muticum
Additional Non-Native Plant Species identified as Medium Risk on Ireland's Biodiversity List...
Common name
Barberry
Brazilian waterweed
Butterfly-bush
Canadian-fleabane
Clover broomrape
False acacia
Garden lupin
Giant rhubarb
Hairy rocket
Himalayan honeysuckle
Himalayan knotweed
Holm oak
Pampas grass
Pitcherplant
Red oak
Rock cotoneaster
Salmonberry
Sycamore
Three-cornered garlic
Traveler's-joy
Species name
Lysichiton americanus
Antithamnionella ternifolia
Ribes nigrum
Egeria densa
Buddleja davidii
Conyza canadensis
Codium fragile ssp. tomentosoides
Pseudotsuga menziesii
Solidago gigantea
Gunnera manicata
Persicaria wallichii
Lonicera japonica
Euphorbia esula
Acaena ovalifolia
Matteuccia struthiopteris
Sarracenia purpurea
Bunias orientalis
Environment
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Freshwater
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Marine
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Freshwater
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Risk score
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14
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14
17
14
14
14
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15
17
17
14
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14
15