blackcurrant

 

• black currant, black-currant

From black +‎ currant.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈblækˌkʌɹənt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈblækˌkɜɹənt/

blackcurrant (plural blackcurrants)

1. A shrub, Ribes nigrum, that produces small, very dark purple, edible berries.
   • 1993, R. D. Davidson, 19: The vegetation of Lough Neagh wetlands, R.B. Wood, R.V. Smith (editors), Lough Neagh: The Ecology of a Multipurpose Water Resource, Monographae Biologicae: Volume 69, page 487,

     Blackcurrant (Ribes nigrum) and guelder rose (Viburnum opulus) are frequent but alder buckthorn (Frangula alnus) a common constituent of East Anglian carr is very rare.

   • 2003, European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy, ESCOP Monographs: The Scientific Foundation for Herbal Medicinal Products‎^[1], page 426:

     Blackcurrant leaf has a diuretic action [11,12,14], therefore it should not be taken concurrently with diuretics indicated for cardiac or renal insufficiency except on medical advice.

   • 2005, Bernard Stocks, The Teenage Pensioner‎^[2], page 112:

     On this first day I concentrated on bushes - gooseberry and blackcurrants for the bottom end borders, rhododendrons for the front inside the wall and a couple of hydrangeas in the spaces left in the monoblocking to the left of the front door.

2. The berry borne by this shrub.
   • 2003, Maria Villegas, Kay Halsey, Sarah Randell, A Little Taste of France, page 120:

     Their wines are intense and elegant, tasting of blackcurrants and made to be aged.

   • 2011, Katherine Swift, The Morville Hours: The Story of a Garden‎^[3], page 222:

     Blackcurrant jam is easy, but this year I have left the blackcurrants so long that they are sweet and ripe enough to eat raw: delicious rolled in a crunch of granulated sugar.

• black (chiefly in drinks)

•   blackcurrant on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
•   Ribes nigrum on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
•   Ribes nigrum on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons