Shrub · Grossulariaceae
Prickly currant
Ribes lacustre
Prickly currant is recorded as native to 24 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 270 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Prickly currant at a glance
- Native in
- 270 counties, across 24 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 1a PLANTS minimum temperature −62°F
- Mature height
- 3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Moisture use not recorded
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 1a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −62°F; zone 1a winters bottom out at −60°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Prickly currant is recorded as native to 24 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 270 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 270 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alaska 13 counties
- California 8 counties
- Colorado 11 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Idaho 25 counties
- Maine 11 counties
- Massachusetts 2 counties
- Michigan 24 counties
- Minnesota 9 counties
- Montana 15 counties
- Nevada 4 counties
- New Hampshire 3 counties
- New Jersey 1 county
- New York 17 counties
- Oregon 30 counties
- Pennsylvania 7 counties
- South Dakota 2 counties
- Utah 8 counties
- Vermont 12 counties
- Virginia 2 counties
- Washington 30 counties
- West Virginia 4 counties
- Wisconsin 18 counties
- Wyoming 14 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Thicket Forming
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Not recorded
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Not recorded
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 8 to 120 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Not recorded
- pH range
- 5 to 7.8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Not recorded
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Not recorded
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −62°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 1a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Early Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Not recorded
- Family
- Grossulariaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- RILA
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Ribes lacustre (PLANTS symbol RILA).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources