124 GROSSULAR1ACE/E. 



ORDER LYI. GBQSSULARIACE^E. CURRANTWORTS. 



Calyx campanulate or tubular, 4 5-parted, sometimes col- 

 ored. Petals 4 5, minute, inserted into the throat of the 

 calyx. Stamens 4 5, inserted alternately with the petals, 

 very short. Ovary 1 -celled ; style 2 4 cleft. Fruit a berry, 

 crowned with the withered flower, 1 -celled. Seeds numerous, 

 suspended among the pulps by long filiform cords ; albumen 

 corneous. Shrubs, either spiny or unarmed. Leaves alternate, 

 lobed. Flowers mostly in racemes. 



RIBES. Linn. Currant and Gosseberry. 



(An Arabic name, said to have been originally applied to a species of rhubarb, 

 Rheum Ribes.) 



Character same as that of the order. 



* Stem unarmed ; flowers in racemes. RIBESIA. 



1. R. rubrum Linn. : leaves subcordate, obtusely 3 5-lobed, pubescent 

 beneath when young, mucronate-serrate ; calyx rotate, the segments round- 

 ish ; petals truncate ; fruit smooth, globose. R. albinervium Mich. 



Woods and swamps, (on mountains?) N. Y. ? Ver. W. to the St. Croix 

 river. Can. to the mouth of Mackenzie river. April, May. ?<;. Flowers in 

 pendulous racemes, small, greenish-yellow. Berries red. Red Currant. 



2. R. prostratum L'Her. : stem reclining or prostrate ; leaves deeply 

 cordate, smooth, 5 7-lobed; the lobes somewhat ovate, acute, coarsely 

 serrate ; calyx rotate, the segments obovate ; petals spatulate, small ; fruit 

 glandular-hispid, globose. R. glandulosum Ait. R. rigens and R. trifidum 

 Mich, (according to Torr. <$ C?r.) 



Rocky places. Subarct. Amer. to Penn. W. to the Rocky Mountains. May, 

 June. \i. Stems 1 3 feet long, procumbent, with erect branches. Racemes 

 few-flowered, erect, at length pendulous. Petals purplish. Berries red, rather 

 large, not well flavored. The plant has a disagreeable odor. Fetid Currant. 



3. R. floridum L'Her, : leaves on long petioles, punctate on both sides, 

 sharply 3 5-lobed, subcordate ; the lobes acute, doubly serrate ; racemes 

 pendulous!! pubescent ; bracts linear, longer than the pedicels ; calyx tubu- 

 lar-campanulate, the segments oblong-spatulate ; fruit ovoid-globose, smooth 

 R. recurvatum Mich. R. Pennsylvanicum Lam. 



Woods and hedges. Subarct. Amer. to Virg. and Ken. April, May. 7J.. 

 Stem 3 4 feet high. Flowers yellowish-green, rather large. Berries black and 

 insipid. Wild Black Currant. 



** Stem usually armed with subaxillary spines, often prickly. GROSSULARIA. 



4. R. Cynosbati Linn. : stem unarmed or prickly ; subaxillary spines 

 1 3; leaves cordate, roundish, pubescent, with 35 incisely-toothed lobes- 

 peduncles long, 2 3-flowered; tube of the calyx broad-campnnulate, slightly 

 contracted at the mouth ; fruit prickly, rarely smooth. 



