472 



RIB 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



RIB 



toothed ; stem erect. Flowers elegant, relatively large, scat- 

 tered on short pedicels, which have a still shorter bracte at 

 their base; berries large, very deep red, extremely acid, not 

 losing their acidity by culture ; and full of juice, but less 

 glutinous than the fifth species. It is distinguished from the 

 sixth species by the flowers being in racemes ; though Dr. 

 Smith doubts whether it be distinct from that species. 

 Native of Carinthia, Styria, Silesia, Bohemia, and England, 

 where it has been found near Egleston and Conscliff, in the 

 county of Durham. 



3. Ribes Procumbens ; Trailing Currant. Racemes erect ; 

 flowers flattish ; leaves obtusely lobed ; stem procumbent ; 

 berries smooth, often larger than those of the Black Currant, 

 hanging down from almost erect racemes, yellowish-green, 

 or, when ripe, rufescent, very pleasant to the taste, and 

 therefore esteemed in Dauria, where the shrub grows wild. 



4. Ribes Glandulosum ; Glandulous Currant. Racemes 

 erect, with glandulous hairs ; flowers flattish ; leaves acumi- 

 nate, lobed, toothed; berries hispid ; stem ascending, root- 

 ing. It differs by its creeping branches and pedicelled glands 

 on all the outer parts of the inflorescence ; and from all the 

 thornless species, in having hispid fruits. Native of North 

 America. 



5. Ribes Alpinum ; Tasteless Mountain Currant. Racemes 

 erect ; bractes longer than the flower ; leaves shining under- 

 neath ; stem erect ; berries elliptic, red, mucilaginous, and 

 insipid, or with a flat sweetish taste, agreeable only to 

 children. The wood, being hard and tough, makes good 

 teeth for rakes. It flowers in April and May. Native of 

 Europe and Asia, in woods, thickets, and hedges. It is 

 found in the northern parts only of England : especially 

 about Bradford, in Yorkshire; about Darlington, in Durham; 

 mid near Edgbaston and Ham, in Staffordshire. 



6. Ribes Spicatum ; Acid Mountain Currant. Spikes 

 erect ; flowers nearly sessile ; petals oblong ; bractes shorter 

 than the calix ; berries like those of the Black Currant in 

 colour and taste. Its upright spikes are sufficient to distin- 

 guish it from all its brethren. Found in England, in the 

 neighbourhood of Richmond in Yorkshire ; and afterwards 

 near the Tees, between Piersbridge and Gainsford in Durham. 



7. Ribes Fragrans ; Fragrant Siberian Currant. Racemes 

 erect; corollas bell-shaped; leaves bluntly three-lobed; stem 

 ascending. The flowers have a very strong smell ; fruit, 

 when largest, of the size of the Black Currant, red, and very 

 sweet. Native of Siberian mountains, bordering on Mon- 

 golia, where there is no wood. 



8. Ribes Triste; Dark-coloured Siberian Currant . Ra- 

 cemes pendulous ; corollas flattish ; leaves five-Iobed. From 

 a creeping root, this species rises to two or three feet high, 

 with several upright shoots. Berries small, black, insipid, 

 full of a blackish-red juice, very excellent for colouring wines. 

 Native of Siberia, and the summits of the Jableniioi ridge. 



9. Ribes Nigrum; Common Black Currant. Racemes 

 loose, hairy, pendulous ; peduncle simple at the base ; flowers 

 bell-shaped ; bractes shorter than the pedicels ; leaves five- 

 lobed, acute, dotted underneath. This is distinguished by 

 its more humble habit, its strong-smelling leaves, glandular 

 underneath, its hairy racemes, tubular calix, and black fruit, 

 hut especially by its solitary one-flowered peduncle at the 

 base of the raceme, and distinct from it: stamina sometimes 

 more than five, and then there are fewer petals, so that when 

 there are ten stami-na, there are no petals ; this change of the 

 petals into stamina, is just the reverse of the process by which 

 single flowers are known to become do.uble ; and this is the 

 only instance in which this curious fact appears to have been 

 observed. The berries have a very peculiar flavour, which 



many persons dislike ; they are, however, common. eaten 

 in puddings in some parts of England, and make a tart little 

 inferior to the Cranberry. The juice is frequently boiled 

 down to an extract, with the addition of a small proportion 

 of sugar; in this state it is called Rob, and is much used for 

 the same purpose as gargles, in inflammatory sore throats. 

 The fruit has been called Squinancy or Quinsy Berries, from 

 their efficacy in this way. The Black Currant jelly, in com- 

 mon domestic use, is rendered less efficacious for this pur- 

 pose by having too much sugar in its preparation. Some put 

 the berries into brandy, for the same purpose as Black Cher- 

 ries. The Russians make wine of the berries alone, or fer- 

 mented with honey, with or without spirits ; or, they mix the 

 expressed juice with spirit drawn from wheat. They make a 

 drink also of the leaves, in Siberia. The leaves, when young, 

 tinge common spirits so as to resemble brandy; an infusion 

 of them is said to have the taste of green Tea, and is pecu- 

 liarly agreeable to some palates. They have also been recom- 

 mended for their medicinal virtues, as cleansing, pellent, and 

 diuretic. An infusion of the young roots is useful in fevers 

 of the eruptive kind, and in the dysenteric fevers of cattle. 

 Goats eat the leaves, and bears are particularly fond of the 

 berries. For its propagation, &c. see the first species. 



10. Ribes Floridum ; American Black Currant. Racemes 

 pendulous ; flowers cylindrical ; bractes about as long as the 

 gcrraen ; leaves three-lobed, cut, dotted on both sides. This 

 agrees exactly with the preceding species in its form and 

 manner of growth, but differs in having the racemes a long 

 span in length, erect, not pendulous ; and the leaves, bark, 

 and berries, without any smell. The plants do not produce 

 much fruit here, and are therefore only kept as curiosities. 

 Native of Pennsylvania, flowering in April and May. 



11. Ribes Albinervium ; White-veined Currant. Leaves 

 abbreviated, acutely lobated, slightly glabrous; nerves hoary; 

 racemes recurved ; flowers small, greenish-yellow ; berries 

 red. Grows, according to Michaux, on Lake Mistassins. 

 It has also been observed growing on the Catkill mountains, 

 North America. 



12. Ribes Trifidum; Notch-flowered Currant. Leaves 

 somewhat lobated, glabrous on the upper surface, pubescent, 

 underneath; racemes lax, pubescent; flowers greenish-yel- 

 low; petals purple ; berries rough, red. Grows in Canada, 

 and on the Pennsylvania mountains. 



13. Ribes Rigens ; Stiff-branched Currant. Branches 

 straight; leaves acutely lobated and dentatecl, reticulate- 

 rugose, pubescent on the under side; racemes lax, rigescent- 

 erect ; berries slightly hispid, red, erect as well as the flowers. 

 Grows on Lake Mistassins, and on the Pennsylvania 

 mountains. 



14. Ribes Prostratum. Branches reclinatc-prostrate ; 

 leaves lobated, slightly glabrous, the younger leaves pubes- 

 cent ; racemes suberecl ; petals deltoid; bractes minute; 

 flowers yellow, tinged with red ; berries hispid, red. Grows 

 in the rocky moist places of Newfoundland, Canada, and 

 Pennsylvania. 



15. Ribes Viscosissimum; Glutinous Currant. Plant co- 

 vered over with hairs of a viscous nature ; leaves cordate, 

 obtusely trilobed, serrated; racemes erect, short; calix tubu- 

 late ; petals oblong ; bractes linear-spathulate, as short again 

 as the pedicel ; germina rough ; flowers large, yellow. Grows 

 on the Rocky mountain, in the interior of North America. 



16. Ribes Resinosum; Resinous Currant. Plant covered 

 over with resinous-glandulons hairs ; leaves from three to 

 five lobed, subrotund; racemes erect; petals obtusely rhom- 

 boidal ; bractes longer than the pedicel; berries rough; 

 flowers green. A North American plant. 



