THE SMALL FRUITS OF NEW YORK 259 



Origin unknown; perhaps a mutation. Said to have been introduced 

 into France from Italy by Adrien Seneclause, de Bourg-Argental, in the 

 early half of the last century. But, perhaps it is much older than that, 

 and possibly the " Great Red Currant," which John Tradescant, Senior, 

 introduced from Holland to England in 161 1, as mentioned in the second 

 edition of Gerarde's Herbal, 1633, is the same thing, since the common R. 

 sativum is a native of England. Cherry and Fay are the best known varieties 

 of this group. 



There is confusion about the wild species of red ciurants. Linnaeus 

 created his name R. rubrum for a plant occurring in northern Scandinavia. 

 With this the wild currant of western Europe was confounded by botanists 

 during the last century. In 1789 Lamarck created a new name, R. vidgare, 

 for R. rubrum, of which he distinguished two forms: R. vulgare var. sylvestre 

 and var. hortense. The elder Reichenbach in his Flora Germanica Excur- 

 soria, 1830-1832, first clearly distinguished the two plants, but still as 

 varieties of R. rubrum, i.e., R. rubrum silvestre and R. rubrum sativum. T. B. 

 Syme in English Botany, third edition, 1865, raised Reichenbach's variety 

 sativum to specific rank, and this is the name now commonly accepted. 

 Lamarck's name, R. vidgare, must be rejected as a synonym of R. sativum. 



R. sativum is always readily distinguished from R. rubrum by its leaves 

 and flowers. The leaves are always more or less and often deeply cordate, 

 the basal lobes often touching each other. In outline they are 3- to 5-lobed, 

 often pentangular. The lateral lobes are widely spreading, thus the sinuses 

 between the terminal and the lateral lobes are usually obtuse. The flowers 

 are very flat, the ring always prominent. 



R. sativum macrocarpum has larger leaves, usually more decidedly 3- 

 lobed, the lobes more pointed, with larger, broader teeth and a deeper almost 

 bluish color. Underneath they are often shining. Of course there are forms 

 of which one is doubtful whether they belong to R. sativum or to R. 

 macrocarpum. 



The hybrids between R. sativum and R. rubrum and probably also 

 between R. sativtim macrocarpum and R. rubrum, have been named: 



R. houghtonianum. Janczewski Bui. Ac. Sci. Nat. Crac. 296. igoi; Ibid. 23. 1904; 

 Janczewski Monogr. 478. 1907. Schneider///. Hdb. Laubh. 1:402. 1905; Berger 

 A^. Y. Sta. Tech. Bui. 109:15. 1925. 

 R. acerifolium. Koch Dendrolog. 1:649. 1869. 



To this hybrid belong a great many varieties of the cultivated red 

 ciirrants; the variety Houghton Castle was taken as type by Janczewski. 



