SOME TUBULAR FLOWERS 37 



The Currant's leaves send out a spicy fragrance 

 that has earned it the name of Incense Bush. This 

 summons the birds and bugs from afar. Then, the 

 little pink flower, with its five stamens and two- 

 parted style, is compensated for her early ventur- 

 ing. Notice how her tube grows darker after the 

 seed is formed. When does this tube fall off? No- 

 tice the leaves, their upper and lower surfaces; 

 their coating in the cold and in the warm months; 

 the way they are attached to the stems; their differ- 

 ences in appearance at different ages. 



The Currant is ideal for cultivation, as it responds 

 to the slightest effort to improve its conditions. In 

 England, it is planted in the gardens and parks as 

 an ornamental shrub. Even in a foreign land, it 

 clings to its old-home habits and bursts into bloom 

 ahead of any of its neighbors. Wherever it dwells, 

 be it at sea level or on moutain slope, in its native 

 West or transported to the Atlantic Shores, it seems 

 to have a psychic sense of the approach of Spring, 

 and it rushes forth to welcome her before more 

 materialistic plants have even heard her approach- 

 ing footsteps. The Currant's genus name, Ribes, 

 comes from the mystic Arabian, which perhaps por- 

 trays a quality of the race. The species, sangui- 

 neum, describes the color of the flower buds. 



An interesting fact connected with California 

 Flora is that many of the specimens from which the 



