The redcurrant or red currant (Ribes rubrum) is a member of the genus Ribes in the gooseberry family. It is native across Europe. However, the species is widely cultivated and has escaped into the wild in many regions. Ribes rubrum is a deciduous shrub normally growing to 1–1.5 meters (3–5 ft) tall, occasionally 2 m (7 ft), with five-lobed leaves arranged spirally on the stems. The flowers are inconspicuous yellow-green, in pendulous 4–8 cm racemes, maturing into bright red translucent edible berries about 8–12 mm diameter, with 3–10 berries on each raceme. An established bush can produce 3–4 kg (7–9 lb) berries from mid to late summer.
In botany, a fruit is a seed-bearing structure in flowering plants formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are how flowering plants disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits, in particular, have long propagated using the movements of humans and animals in a symbiotic relationship that is the means for seed dispersal for the one group and nutrition for the other; in fact, humans and many animals have become dependent on fruits as a source of food.