GOOSEBERRY AND CURRANT TRIBE 



107 



Natural Order XXXIV 

 GROSSULARIACEiE. The Gooseberry and Currant Tribe 



Calyx growing from the summit of the ovary, 4-5 cleft ; petals 4-5, 

 small, inserted at the mouth of the calyx-tube, and alternating with 

 the stamens ; ovary i-celled, with the ovules arranged in 2 opposite 

 rows ; style 2 to 4-cleft ; berry crowned with the withered flower, 

 pulpy, containing many stalked seeds. Shrubs with or without 

 thorns and having alternate lobed leaves, which are plaited when 

 in bud. The flowers grow in clusters in the axils of the leaves, 

 each flower with a bract at its base, and are succeeded by pulpy 

 berries, which in several species are highly prized for their agreeable 

 flavour. In other species the taste is mawkish or extremely acid. 

 The plants of this tribe grow only in the temperate parts of the 

 world, especially in North America and on the mountains of northern 

 India. In Africa they are unknown. 



1. Ribes (Currant and Gooseberry). Calyx 5-cleft ; petals 5, in- 

 serted at the mouth of the calyx-tube ; stamens 5 ; berry many- 

 seeded, crowned by the withered flower. (Name anciently given to 

 a species of Rhubarb.) 



1. Ribes (Currant and Gooseberry) 

 Flowers 1-3 together ; branches thorny 



1. R. Grossularia (Gooseberry). The common Gooseberry of gar- 

 dens. Frequently met with in hedges and thickets and in wild 

 rocky places in the north, but probably an escape. It is well dis- 

 tinguished by its sharp thorns, which grow either singly or 2-3 

 together, below the leaf-buds. Fl. April, May. Shrub. 



Flowers in clusters ; branches without thorns 



2. R. rnbrum (Red Currant). Flowers in drooping racemes ; 

 bracts at the base of each flower-stalk very small ; calyx smooth ; 

 leaves bluntly 5-lobed. The Red and /s,/?. 



White Currant of gardens; not un- /\^\y\ 



common in hedges near houses; and f^^^f/) ,/v-v 



in Scotland and the north of England 



supposed to be wild. Fl. April, May. , 



Shrub. ^9sf&^&MZ7&&$ 



3. R. nigrum (Black Currant). Flower- 

 clustrs loose, drooping, with a single 

 stalked flower at the base of each ; calyx 

 downy ; leaves sharply 3- to 5-lobed, 

 dotted with glands beneath. The Black 

 Currant of gardens ; occasionally wild in Ribes Nigrum (Black Currant) 

 I 



