Ecotype differentiation of Ribes rubrum in Norway

Summary Clones of Ribes spp. from 6 regions in Norway and from Denmark, together with a commercial variety, had shown differences in phenological and morphological characters. However, some crossing between wild and cultivated material was suspected to have occurred. A cluster analysis was performed in order to regroup the clones. The results for both vegetative and generative characters showed that most of the clones had a common origin. Some differentiation had occurred between wild and cultivated types and also between northern and southern types (north and south of 61° N resp.). These may be considered to be different ecotypes. The pattern is compared with that of other species.