Black Currant Tree is a tree, up to 12 m high, bark
grey, branchlets brown or greyish, warty, greyish, yellowish, brown or
ferrugineous-tomentellous, becoming hairless with age. Leaves are
simple, alternate, stipulate; stipules lateral, 3-8 mm long, linear or
lanceolate, deciduous. Leaf-stalks are 3-25 mm, slender, velvety, blade
2.5-14 x 1.5-10 cm, oblong, oblong-elliptic, obovate, suborbicular or
ovate. Base is round, heart-shaped, flat, subacute or obtuse, tip
round, blunt, retuse or apiculate, margin entire, papery to thinly
leathery or sometimes membranous, glabrous or sparsely pilose on midrib
and lateral nerves above grey or fulvous tomentellous to thinly pilose
beneath, lateral nerves 3-7 pairs, parallel, slender, prominent
intercostae reticulate, prominent. Flowers are unisexual,
reddish-yellow; male flowers: in terminal and axillary much branched
spikes; peduncle densely brown or fulvous tomentose; bracts 1-5 mm
long, linear or narrowly ovate, densely pilose; perianth ca.1.2 x 1-2
mm, cupular, densely pilose or tomentellous outside, lobes 5, ovate,
acute; disc glands free, inter staminal, pilose towards apex; stamens
4-5, 1-2 mm long; anther cells orbicular; pistillode obconic; female
flowers: in terminal and axillary branched or simple racemes; peduncle
densely brown or fulvous tomentose; pedicel 0.8-1.5 mm, densely pilose;
perianth cupular, 1-1.5 x 1.5-2 mm, densely pilose outside, lobes 5,
elliptic, ovate or linear-oblong, almost free, acute; disc annular;
ovary superior, 1-1.5 mm long, 1-locular, ovules 2 in each cell,
ellipsoid to oblong-ellipsoid, often oblique, tomentose; styles
terminal. Fruit is a drupe 4-6 x 3-5 mm, compressed-orbicular,
glabrous, reddish-brown or black, alveolate.