[Crow7b Copyright Reserved. 



ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW. 



BULLETIN 



OF 



MISCELLAi\EOUS mrORMATION. 



No. 



[1914 



VIIL— GARDEN NOTES ON NEW TREES AND 



SHRUBS. 



W. J. Bean. 



(with plates.) 



XIV. — A New Hybkid between Gooseberky and 



Black Currant. 



Ribes wollense, new hybrid [Saxifragaceae]. 



In August, 1913, some specimens of an interesting hybrid 

 between the black currant {Rihes nigrum) and the gooseberry 

 [R. Grossularia) were received at Kew, through Mr. W. B. Boyd, 

 from Mr. W. J- Bell, of The Woll, Hawick, N.B. This is not the 

 first hybrid that has occurred between the same species. About 

 1880, R, CnlverwelUiy Macfarlane, was raised at Thorpe Perrow 

 in Yorkshire [see Gardeners' Chronicle, May 19, 1883, p. 635), 

 and t! nether named R. Schnetderi (see Koehne in Gartenflora, 

 1902, p. 409) has appeared on the Continent. The plants growing 

 at The Well are quite distinct from both. 



There are at present about a dozen bushes growing in Mr. Bell's 

 grounds, one of which has a main stem 12 ins. in girth. The 

 origin of the plants is not known, but they are evidently very old ; 

 Mr. Boyd thinks 60 or 70 years. An old gardener whose recollec- 

 tions of the place went back forty years did not remember them 

 being planted, but knew that gooseberry bushes and black 

 currants once grew wild on the spot. It appears probable that it 

 was from these that the hybrid bushes were derived, the cross- 

 fertilisation being, no doubt, effected by insect agency; but it is 

 rather curious that neither of the parent species now grows there. 

 The hybrid alone remains. , . 



R. wollense is perhaps more nearly related to R. Grossularia 

 than to R. nigrum, especially in the foliage and flower; but it 

 shows the influence of the latter in the fruit, which is black, of the 

 same size as the black currant, quite smooth, borne three or more 

 on a raceme, and has a distinct suggestion of black currant in its 

 flavour. 



• Description. — A deciduous shrub, about 6 ft. high, of lax, 

 spreading habit, the lower branches prostrate; branchlets yellowish 



(3122.) Wt.212-780. 1,125. 3/14. J.T.&S. G. U. 



