Currant Versailles Blanche

Medium-ripening variety of unknown origin, obtained in France, known since 1850. Since 1959, it has been included in the State Register of Selection Achievements approved for use in the Northwest, Central, Volga-Vyatka, Central Chernozem, Middle Volga, and Ural regions.

Medium-height, spreading bush. One-year-old shoots are thick, brittle, green, and slightly hairy.

Leaf five-lobed, large, green with a bluish tint, dull, hairy underneath. Leaf blade nearly flat. Central lobe is shortened, lateral lobes are widely spread. Angle between central veins of lateral lobes is obtuse or nearly right. Basal lobes are well-developed. Leaf base is deeply heart-shaped. Leaf margin teeth are short and blunt.

Flowers of medium size, dish-shaped, with a distinct green receptacle. Sepals are yellow-green, touching, slightly curved. Inflorescences are long, sparse, with long pedicels. Inflorescence axis is hairless and shiny. Pedicels are long and straight.

Berries are large (more than 1.0 cm in diameter, 0.7 g), round, yellowish, translucent, one-seeded, sweet-sour, pleasant, of universal use. Chemical composition of berries: dry matter — 18.0%, total sugars — 7.5%, titratable acidity — 2.3%, ascorbic acid — 38.0 mg/100 g.

Medium-winter-hardy variety, average yield, up to 8.0 t/ha, relatively resistant to powdery mildew, susceptible to anthracnose.

Advantages of the variety: large berries, long racemes with long pedicels.

Disadvantages of the variety: spreading bush shape, brittle shoots, susceptibility to anthracnose.