Jostaberry (Jochelberry) is a complex cross in the Ribes genus, but is commonly describe as a crossed berry between a gooseberry and a blackcurrant. The name of the fruit came from the German words for blackcurrant and gooseberry. Jostaberry was first made available to the public in 1977.
Jostaberry bushes can grow to about 2m tall, flowering in mid-spring and ripening by late summer. Most Jostaberries plants are thornless. The plant is hermaphrodite and the plant is self-fertile following insect pollination. The plants are resistant to American gooseberry mildew, blackcurrant leaf spot, white pine blister rust, and big bud gall mite.
Jostaberry is a shiny black fruit, globular or ellipsoid and about 1.2 cm long. Jostaberries can be eaten fresh or cooked. It has taste that is intermediate between that of a gooseberry and that of a blackcurrant, with the gooseberry flavor more dominant in the unripe fruit, and blackcurrant in the ripe fruit. Jostaberry is rich in vitamin C and can frozen well.
Jostaberries http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ribes_nidigrolaria_fruits.jpg Simon
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ribes_nidigrolaria_fruits.jpg
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