Shrub · Grossulariaceae
Sticky currant
Ribes viscosissimum
Sticky currant is recorded as native to 10 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 135 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Sticky currant at a glance
- Native in
- 135 counties, across 10 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −37°F
- Mature height
- 3.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Moisture use not recorded
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −37°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Sticky currant is recorded as native to 10 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 135 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 135 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arizona 1 county
- California 24 counties
- Colorado 2 counties
- Idaho 25 counties
- Montana 14 counties
- Nevada 3 counties
- Oregon 22 counties
- Utah 17 counties
- Washington 17 counties
- Wyoming 10 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
- 3.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Not recorded
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Not recorded
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Not recorded
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 14 to 86 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 5.8 to 8.4
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Not recorded
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Not recorded
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −37°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 88
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late 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
- RIVI3
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 viscosissimum (PLANTS symbol RIVI3).
- 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