Ribes species (black- and redcurrants, and gooseberries)

A number of macrofossils of Ribes species have been unearthed in medieval material from the old Bergen harbor area. Both fruits and seeds have been found, but it is not possible to determine which of the species one is dealing with.

Ribes species were especially grown for the berries, and were often planted in rows and hedges, as is carefully described in Norway’s first garden book, ‘Horticultura’ from 1694. ‘Alperips’ (Ribes alpinum) was popular in ornamental hedges. It can be cut as a low and narrow hedge and comes into leaf early in the spring, but the berries are slightly poisonous.

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