Gooseberries: two native species and a farm selection

Compare the fruit, thorniness and growing habit of our two native gooseberries and the unnamed purple gooseberry from our farm. The shared common name Northern Gooseberry can refer to different species.

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northern gooseberry, or smooth gooseberry, image 3 of 8

Agotado

Plantas del vivero

Grosellero espinoso del norte

Maceta de 4 pulgadas

$19.00 CADAvísame

A native gooseberry with sweet tart green fruit and mostly smooth stems.

canadian gooseberry, Ribes oxyacanthoides, image 9 of 9

Plantas del vivero

Grosellero espinoso canadiense

Plantín de cepellón grande

$15.00 CAD

A native gooseberry with dense small spines and green to reddish fruit.

Purple gooseberry fully ripe at the end of August, image 2 of 4

Plantas del vivero

Grosella espinosa morada (Ribes sp.)

$15.00 CADSeleccionar opciones

A rooted plant from the purple fruited gooseberry on our farm, whose parent grows in full shade.

A dash means our sources did not give that detail.

Plant	Identity	Fruit	Thorns	Mature size	Site
Northern Gooseberry	Ribes hirtellum	Translucent green; sweet tart	Mostly smooth, with a few thorns at the nodes	About 2 to 5 ft tall and 3 to 4 ft wide	Full sun or part shade
Canadian Gooseberry	Ribes oxyacanthoides	Just over half an inch across, ripening green to reddish	Dense small spines	2 to 5 ft tall	Sun or some shade
Purple Gooseberry	Unidentified farm gooseberry; cultivar name not known	Medium berries that ripen purple in late summer	—	Up to 5 ft tall and wide	Parent fruits in full shade under spruce; rooted plants have also grown quickly in dry full sun

What we know and do not know

Ribes hirtellum and Ribes oxyacanthoides are different native species. The purple gooseberry is an unidentified farm selection, so we do not call it a native species. What we say about shade and dry ground is what we have seen here.