188 SAXIFRAGE FAMILY 



the bell-shaped calyx ; sepals reflexed ; petals yellowish-white ; berries 

 large, with long prickles, or sometimes smooth : cynosbati, resembling 

 the wild-briar. 



Rocky woods, throughout the wooded part of the state. Distributed 

 from western Maine to the mountains of N. C, west to Manitoba and Mo. 



Distributed from western Me. to the mountains of N. C, west to 

 Manitoba and Mo. 



Fruit edible but not much used on account of the sharp prickles. 

 Blossoms in May, fruit ripe in July. 



Ribes gracile M i c h a u x 1803 Missouri Gooseberry 

 Ribes missouriensis Nuttall 1814 



A bushy, much branched shrub 1-2 m. high, spines mostly solitary, 

 7-17 mm. long, reddish, bark grayish, peeling off; leaves slender-petioled 

 round or broader than long, 3-5 lobed, lobes blunt and dentate, pubescent 

 when young, 2-3.5 cm. broad; racemes several-flowered, pedicels of the 

 flowers very slender, 8-12 mm. long, flowers white or whitish, drooping, 

 12-18 mm. long, calyx tube narrow, shorter than the lobes, lobes 5-6 mm. 

 long, petals 2 mm. long, stamens with slender filaments 10-15 mm. long, 

 projecting beyond the sepals; berry reddish-purple, 10-12 mm. long: 

 gracile, slender. 



Common on river bottoms and in rocky soil throughout the state. 

 Distributed from Ct. to S. D. and southward. Blossoms in May, fruit 

 ripe in July and August. 



Ribes oxyacanthoides Linne 1753 Smooth Gooseberry Northern 



Gooseberry 



Branching shrub, 0.5-1.5 m. high, bark grayish to dark, spines generally 

 solitary, 5-10 mm. long, light-colored, sometimes with scattered prickles; 

 leaves round, 3-5 lobed, truncate to broadly cuneate at base, thin but leath- 

 ery, thinly pubescent along the margins and on the veins beneath, 1.5-3 cm. 

 wide, 1.5-3.5 cm. long, petioles pubescent, 1-2 cm. long, often with naked 

 glands among the hairs ; racemes 1-3 flowered, their peduncles about 12 mm. 

 long, flowers short pediceled, greenish-yellow to dull purple, 6-8 mm. 

 long, stamens about the same length as the oblong calyx lobes, calyx 

 lobes 3 mm. long, about as long as the tube, erectly spreading ; berry 

 glabrous, 8-12 mm. in diameter, reddish-purple when ripe; oxyacan- 

 thoides, with sharp spines. 



In moist woods and low grounds, common throughout the northern 

 half of the state, rare as far south as Minneapolis. Distributed from 



