THE SMALL FRUITS OF NEW YORK 257 



Key to Cultivated Species and Hybrids of Red Currants 



A. Flowers flat, rotate, or saucer-shaped with a more or less distinctly raised ring in the 



bottom of the flower 



B. Ring very distinct, often of a dark color; anthers with a very broad connective. 



Leaves heart-shaped at the base; remains of the withered flower on the berries 



pentagonal at the base 



C. Leaves 3- to 5-lobed, lobes spreading, mostly slightly pubescent, at length 



glabrous beneath R. sativtim 



CC. Leaves 3- to s-lobed, the middle lobe the largest, of very firm texture and of a 

 dark, almost bluish green, nearlj'- smooth and glossy beneath; with big coarse 



teeth and coarse venation ; berries very large R. sativum macrocarpum 



BB. Ring present, but rather low and less distinct and the flowers not quite as flat. 



Bases of lea^^es varying from truncate to almost heart-shaped; remains of the 



withered flowers at the bases more or less roundish 



C. Sepals not ciliate. Racemes drooping. Young shoots slightly pubescent ; leaves 



mostly with truncate base, pubescent beneath. Anthers variable, but mostly 



with a broadened connective 



R. houghtoiiiamim {R. rubrum x sativum). (See also R. warscewicsii) 

 CC. Sepals ciliate. Racemes spreading horizontally. Young shoots glabrous. 



Anthers roundish ovoid, white R. gonduini {R. petraeum x sativum) 



AA. Flowers pelviform or shallowly cup-shaped or bell-shaped 



B. Sepals not or only very faintly ciliate; flowers pelviform or shallowly cup-shaped 

 C. Flowers without any ring, somewhat conically raised at the bottom of the style 

 (best seen in a longitudinal section). Racemes spreading, more or less glandu- 

 lar. Leaves with a truncate or subcordate base, pubescent beneath. Withered 



remains of the flower on the berries with a roundish base R. rubrum, 



CC. Flowers with a flat bottom, on which a very faint ring is traceable on a longitudinal 

 section; flowers, anthers, and berries larger than in R. rubrum. Racemes 



drooping. Leaves heart-shaped. Berries very acid R. warscemiczii 



BB. Sepals ciliate; flowers decidedly bell-shaped, not shallowly cup-shaped 



C. Flowers rather large, with a semi-inferior receptacle, the upper part prolonged 

 and forming a stout conical base of the style; petals inserted on a thickened 



base R. petraeum 



CC. Flowers with a distinctly inferior ovary, petals also inserted on a thickened 

 base 

 D. Flowers with a faint ring at the bottom. Leaves rather large, truncate or 



cordate, 3- to 5-lobed. Vegetation early 



R. gonduini {R. petraeum x sativum) 

 DD. Flowers without any trace of a ring 



E. Stamens longer with curved filaments as long as the petals. Leaves large, 



3- to 5-lobed, subpubescent, base truncate or subcordate 



R. pallidum (R. petraeum x rubrum) 

 EE. Stamens straight, shorter than the petals. Leaves medium in size, strongly 



pubescent beneath, petiole short, tomentose 



R. holosericeum {R. petraeum caucasicum x rubrum) 



Ribes sativum Rchbch. Syme Engl. Bot. 3d Ed. 4:42. t. 520. 1865; Berger N. Y. Sta. 

 Tech. Bui. 109:7. 1925. 

 R. rubrum var. sativum. Rchbch. Fl. Germ. Excurs. 562. 1830-32. 

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