Ribes, involving three original species, the blackcurrant Blackcurrant varieties. North American coastal black gooseberry R. William Culverwell in Yorkshire, England in 1880.
However, Jostaberry is a F2 fertile amphipolyploid hybrid of complex parentage, not a direct cross, and was created later in Germany. Therefore, jostaberry is descended from two separate first-generation crosses, both of which produced very few fruit. One of the F1 hybrids used was a cross between the blackcurrant cultivar R. Following German pronunciation of “J”, it may be pronounced “yostaberry” in English.
Josta’ was made available to the public in 1977. A number of varieties have been developed since then by various developers. This section does not cite any sources. The nearly black berry, which is smaller than a gooseberry and a bit larger than a blackcurrant, is edible both raw and cooked. It is described as having a taste intermediate between a gooseberry and a blackcurrant, with the gooseberry flavor more dominant in the unripe fruit, and the blackcurrant notes developing as the fruit ripens.
Commercial production of jostaberries is limited because they are not well-suited to mechanical harvesting. Compared to most other fruits, harvesting jostaberries is relatively labor-intensive per kilogram. Although harder to pick than blackcurrants, the plant is thornless. The plant itself grows to a maximum height of about 2 m, flowering in mid-spring, with fruit setting and ripening on a similar timetable to the blackcurrant.