CHAP. LV. GROSSULA‘CEX. RI BES. 977 
§ iii. Ribésia Dec. Currants. 
Synonymes. Ribes sp. Lin. and others; Calobétrya, Coredsma, and Rébis Spach; Groseilles en 
Grappes, or Grosseiller commun, Fr.; Johannisbeere, Ger. ; Bessenboom, Dutch. 
Sect. Char, Shrubs unarmed. Racemes, for the most part, many-flowered. 
Leaves plicate. Calyx campanulate or cylindrical. (Don’s Mill., tii. p. 185.) 
Shrubs, the branches of which are without prickles, and the leaves and 
fruit of which resemble those of the currant more than those of the goose- 
berry. 
A. Flowers greenish, or greenish yellow, or reddish ; and Fruit, ina wild 
State, red. 
£17. R.rv‘srum LZ. The common red Currant. 
Identification. Lin. Sp., 290. ; Dec. Prod., 3. p.481.; Don’s Mill.,3, p.187.; Lodd. Cat. ed. 1836. 
Synonymes. R. vulgare N. Du Ham,; Grosseiller commun, Fr.; gemeine Johannisbeere, Ger. ; 
Roode Aallessen Boom, Dutch. 
Engravings. Woody. Med. Bot.,t.74.; Fl. Dan., 967.; Blackw. Herb., t. 285.; Smith Engl. Bot., 
t. 1289.; Krauss, t. 48. ° 
Spec. Char., §c. Leaves cordate, bluntly 3—5-lobed, pubescent beneath, 
when young, usually rather tomentose, glabrous above. Racemes drooping. 
Bracteas ovate, shorter than the pedicels. Calyx flatly campanulate, 
spreading. Sepals obtuse. Petals obcordate. Fruit quite glabrous. Flowers 
yellowish. (Don’s Mill., iii. p.187.) Native of Europe and Siberia, in 
woods ; and throughout Canada to the mouth of the Mackenzie; found in 
mountainous woods, especially in the north of England and in Scotland, 
about the banks of rivers ; undoubtedly wild on the banks of the Tees; in 
the Isle of Isla, and in Culross woods, Scotland. A shrub, growing 
from 4 ft. to 6 ft. high, and flowering in April and May. 
Varieties. De Candolle gives the following forms of this species : — 
& R. r. 1 sylvéstre Dec. Fl. Fr., iv. p.406.— Leaves and berries small. 
Lobes of leaves short. 
& R.r. 2 horténse Dec., l.c.; R. rubrum Lois. Nouv. Dict., iii. — Leaves 
large, sometimes variegated. Berries sweeter and larger than in 
var. 1. Cultivated in gardens. 
# R.r. 3 carneum Berl. MSS. ex Dec. Prod., iii. p.481.; R. ribrum 
domésticum 2 baccis carneis Wallr. Sched., p. 106. — Leaves rather 
tomentose beneath. Sepals red. Cells of anthers distant. Berries 
pale red. 
# R. r. 4 variegatum Dec. Prod., iii. p.481., Wallr., 1. c., has the berries 
beautifully variegated; or, rather, distinctly striped with white and 
red. In cultivation in Austria, and well deserving of a place in 
every collection, from the beauty and singularity of its fruit. 
% R. 7. 5 album Desf. Cat. Bot., p. 164., Ait. Hort. Kew., ii. p.40., Wallr. 
Sched., p. 106., Berl., |. c., t. 2. f. 15. — Berries white. 
& R.r. 6 folus hiteo variegatis Du Ham. has the leaves variegated with 
yellow, and the fruit red. 
2% R.r. 7 foliis albo variegatis Du Ham. has the leaves variegated with 
white, and the fruit white. 
Description. The common red currant, in a wild state, like all plants the 
seeds of which are of easy dissemination by birds, varies exceedingly in habit 
and magnitude, according to the soil, elevation, and latitude in which it 
happens to spring up. On mountains, among rocks, it is scarcely a foot high, 
with finely cut leaves; and is known by botanists under the name of 2. alpinum 
pumilum. (See /ig.726. p. 979.) In more favourable situations, it forms a ligneous 
fastigiate bush 5 ft. or 6 ft. high, under the form of R. spicatum (see fig.728. in 
p- 980.) ; and, cultivated in gardens, it becomes a spreading bush, with vigorous 
shoots, and leaves twice the size of those it produces in a wild state. The 
common red currant is commonly treated by botanists as a distinct species; 
but we have no doubt whatever that . petre‘um, R. spicatum, R. alpinum, 
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