Currants and gooseberries, although closely related, can easily be distinguished by examining the canes and fruit. Gooseberry canes normally produce a spine at each leaf node and bear roughly grape-sized berries singly or in groups of 2 or 3. Currant canes lack the spines and bear 8 to 30 pea-sized berries in clusters. A mature currant or gooseberry shrub can produce up to four quarts of fruit annually. Most commercially available cultivars have adequate winter hardiness for the majority of the Upper Midwest, many to USDA hardiness zone 3a.
