Currant Exotica

A variety of early maturity, obtained at the All-Russian Research Institute for Fruit Breeding and the Siberian Gardening Research Institute named after M.A. Lisavenko by pollination of the Golubka seedling with pollen from seedlings obtained from free pollination of the Bredthorp variety. Authors: T.P. Ogoltsova, Z.S. Zotova, S.D. Knyazev, L.V. Bayanova. In 2001 it was included in the State Register of varieties allowed for use in the Central Region.

The bush is vigorous, erect, moderately dense. Growing shoots are light green, pubescent, colored with anthocyanin, thick. Lignified - thick, straight, shiny, gray with a yellowish top, with long internodes. Buds are large, pink, asymmetric, with well-visible glands, deflected from the shoot, sitting on a very short stalk, egg-shaped, with an acute or slightly blunt apex. The apical bud is not free, large (adjacent buds are large), the shape of the leaf scar is rounded or round-cuneate.

The leaf is five-lobed, very large, rough, strongly corrugated, finely wrinkled, green, with a slight luster, wide. The middle lobe is triangular, massive, wide and long, with an acute apex bent down, with additional projections. Lateral lobes are blunt, short, the angle between their veins is obtuse. Upper sides of lateral lobes are lowered downward along the arc, lower sides are beveled or vertical. Notches between the lobes are obtuse, small. Basal lobes are weakly expressed, their veins are raised upward and directed towards the petiole. The base of the leaf has a shallow, locked notch. Teeth are large, blunt, petioles are colored, pubescent.

Flowers are large, with a pale color, calyx lobes are medium, wide. Bunch is average, drooping, berries in the bunch are located densely 8-10 pieces, axis is thick, straight, glabrous.

Berries are very large (2.5 g), round, uniform, black, shiny, skin is thin, taste is sour-sweet (4.3 points), refreshing, with aroma, universal purpose. Calyx is closed, small, pedicel is long, dark green. Chemical composition: soluble dry substances — 12.8%, sum of sugars — 8.9%, titratable acidity — 2.8%, ascorbic acid -197.1 mg/100 g, anthocyanins — 101.1 mg/100 g, leucoanthocyanins — 151.7 mg/100 g, catechins — 431.7 mg/100 g, total P-active substances — 684.5 mg/100 g.

The variety is winter-hardy, early-bearing, self-fertile (54%), resistant to powdery mildew and columnar rust, moderately resistant to anthracnose, septoria, and bud mite, suitable for mechanized harvesting of the crop, average yield 6.9 t/ha (1.0 kg/bush).

Merits of the variety: large-fruitedness, processability.

Drawbacks of the variety: susceptible to anthracnose, septoria, bud mite and crinkling.