VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Ribes cereum | Wax Currant 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Wax currant provides food and cover for wildlife [30].  It is only fair
to poor browse for deer, but it is important on ranges where little else
is available [28].  In Oregon, pocket gophers fed on wax currant during
the dormant season (December - March).  Chickadees and other birds
consume the fruit of wax currant [31].

Wax current is fair to poor browse for livestock [28].



PALATABILITY : 
The palatability of wax currant to livestock is rated as follows [12]:

                           CO        MT       UT       WY
 
Cattle                    fair      poor     poor     fair
Sheep                     good      fair     fair     good
Horses                    fair	    poor     poor     fair


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
In north-central Colorado, the new annual growth of wax currant
contained 5.6 percent crude protein.  Phosphorus and calcium
concentrations were 0.23 and 0.85 percent, respectively [48].


COVER VALUE : 
Cover values for wax currant are as follows [12]:

                        CO           UT            WY

Pronghorn              ----         ----          fair
Elk 	               ----	    poor          poor
Mule deer              ----	    poor          fair
White-tailed deer      ----         ----          fair
Small mammals          fair         good          good
Small nongame birds    fair         good          good
Upland game birds      fair         fair          fair
Waterfowl              ----         poor          poor


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
The fruit of wax currant is used for making jam, jelly, or pie [30].
Some western Indian tribes used currants for making pemmican [28].  Wax
currant is cultivated as an ornamental [30].



MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Wax currant is an alternate host for white pine blister rust (Cronartium
ribicola) which infests five-needled pines [29].  Because of its
association with the rust, wax currant has been a target of various
eradication studies [1,5,29].  Efforts to eradicate Ribes spp. have been
unsuccessful and have not resulted in decreased rust infection [49].

In central Idaho, wax currant establishes after light ground
scarification and thrives after thorough scarificication which induces
germination and decreases the existing shrub cover [38,39,40].

Related categories for Species: Ribes cereum | Wax Currant