Articles
WILD CURRANT (RIBES SPICATUM ROBS.) REGISTRATION AND COLLECTING FOR BREEDING AND DOMESTICATION PURPOSES IN THE ARCTIC NORWAY
From earlier years about 100 numbers have been collected, of which 30 are from home gardens widespread in Finnmark.
At Holt Agricultural Research Station 280 seedplants from some of these numbers are going through selections.
At Troms/os Museum (University of Troms/os) 91 localities of wild currants are registrated from Norway north of the Arctic Circle since 1878.
The findings represent a geographical area from 67°50′ to 70°30′ N and from 14°30′ to 30°50′ E, e.g. from the coastal islands of the Polar Sea to the inland valleys, from the sea level up to 760 m a.s.l.
Some selections have already shown to be of value for home gardens in the far north, where the commercial cultivar ‘Red Dutch’ is too late to give ripe berries.
Very early (No. 382) and medium early (No. 386 = ‘Losvar’, and No. 394) numbers may serve as garden plants both for ornamentation and berry production.
The variability of important characteristics as earliness, growth form, raceme and berry size, dominance of seeds in the fruits, taste and aroma of the fruits, rooting capability etc. promise the northern populations to be of interest as gene resources for breeding programs.