326 Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 



neighboring county of Kosciusko. The trees were out of flower by 

 May 28, 1901. The glossy leaves take on a strikingly rich colora- 

 tion in autumn and the branches are remarkable for their broad 

 plates of corky outgrowth. 



FAMILY 73. GROSSULARIACE^E. GOOSEBERRY FAMILY 

 393. WILD BLACK CURRANT 



RIBES AMERICANUM Mill. 



Infrequent in the vicinity of the lake, though common through- 

 out the state in low, damp woods. The only plants found were in 

 the neighborhood of Inlet marsh. Although this plant is consid- 

 erably inferior in appearance to the Missouri currant, and the blos- 

 soms lack the spicy odor of that species, the pale yellow tresses of 

 blossoms are decidedly handsome, and are borne in considerable 

 profusion. The fruits are rather pleasant eaten out of hand, but 

 are of too gamy a flavor to be used in cooking. 



394. WILD GOOSEBERRY 



GROSSULARIA CYNOSBATI (L.) Mill. 



Fairly common in woodlands. The earliest of our shrubs to 

 leaf out in spring, a wild gooseberry bush shows at a distance its 

 halo of green when the surrounding trees and bushes are still 

 brown and bare. The blossoms contain an abundance of sweet 

 nectar which can be obtained by biting off the basal portion. The 

 berries are sometimes cooked after the spines are rubbed off, but 

 the fruit is inferior to that of garden sorts. The leaves are quite 

 resistant to mildew which so frequently plays havoc with cultivated 

 varieties, and the "currant worm" seems never to trouble them. 

 Wild gooseberry bushes are occasionally seen growing high on the 

 top of old stubs of trees. 



April 19, 1901, tips of buds show green ; April 22, leaved out so 

 as to show green for some distance, many leaves entirely unfolded ; 

 April 30, nearly in flower, east side; May 3, in flower, Walley's 

 woods. 



395. NORTHERN GOOSEBERRY 



GROSSULARIA OXYACANTHOIDES (L.) Mill. 



Not common; found in the tamarack west of the lake, also in 

 the one northeast of the lake. Found in flower May 22, 1901. 

 The fruit is smaller than that of the prickly gooseberry and borne 

 rather sparingly. The flowers are markedly different from those 

 of the preceding species, having a very shallow cup. 



