Crandall Clove Currant

Crandall is genuinely distinct from other currants in this database on a real botanical level: it belongs to Ribes odoratum, the Buffalo Currant, a North American native species sometimes considered more closely related to gooseberries than to the European currants (Ribes rubrum and Ribes nigrum) that make up most cultivated currant varieties. It is specifically valued and grown for its intensely fragrant blossoms — the "clove" in its common name references their genuine, distinctive clove-like scent, a real and notable ornamental trait beyond its fruit. As a different species from the black currants targeted hardest by white pine blister rust regulations, Crandall has generally faced fewer of the legal restrictions that affected true Ribes nigrum varieties during the decades of US currant bans.