Plant ID

[Giles Hill]

Does anybody recognise this?

 

I came across it at the weekend in a native woodland area...

 

It's a suckering shrub about 1M high, I thought it was some kind of native currant, but I'm not at all sure.

 

The leaves are quite big - that's an A4 sheet of paper in the picture.

 

I didn't notice any thorns.

 

I'm not convinced it's native, but frankly I don't know!

 

 

 

[nepia]

I'd say currant; do the crushed leaves smell? Not necessarily of blackcurrant but I find they're more pungent than most leaves. The light coloured stem and slightly hairy leaf stems look good for currant too.

[Steve Bullman]

currant was my first thought

[Hogs Breath]

Could be josta berry?

[Giles Hill]

Thanks for the replies, I'd not heard of Josta berry, but now I know it's a currant / goosberry cross - amazing what you learn on here.

 

So Ribes is the prime suspect... I thought the leaves were too large, but that could be explained by it growing in a shady area. The leaves do smell as described by nepia.

 

All this has promted me to look out for some gooseberry / currant bushes, to add to the margins of a native hedge I've planted in the garden.