GROSSULACEJF, (CURRANT FAMILY.) 137 



* Peduncles 1 - 3-Jloicered : leaves roundish-heart-shaped, 3 -5-lobed. 



1. R. Cyndsbati, L. (WILD GOOSEBERRY.) Leaves pubescent; po- 

 dunchs slender, 2 - 3-flowered ; stamens and undivided style not longer than the broad 

 calyx. Rocky woods ; common, especially northward. May. Spines slender. 

 Berry large, armed with long prickles like a burr, or rarely smooth. 



2. R, Eiirt^Iltiiii, Michx. (SMOOTH WILD GOOSEBERRY.) Leaves 

 ?omcwhat pubescent beneath ; peduncles very short, 1 - 2-flowcrcd, deflexed ; sta- 

 iii! ns and 2-cIcft style scarcely longer than the bell-shaped (purplish] calyx; fruit 

 smooth, small, pxirple, sweet. Moist grounds, N. England to Wisconsin, com- 

 mon. May. Stems either smooth or 'prickly, and with very short thorns, or 

 none. This yields the commonest smooth gooseberry of New England, &c., 

 and usually passes for R. trinoram, Willd., which name belongs to the next. 



3. R. rotundifolium, Michx. (SMOOTH WILD GOOSEBERRY.) 

 Leaves nearly smooth; peduncles slender, 1 - 3-flowercd ; stamens and 2-parted 

 sh/la slender, longer than the narrow cylindrical calyx ; fruit smooth, pleasant. 

 Rocks, W. Massachusetts to Wisconsin, and southward along the mountains to 

 Virginia, &c. June. Leaves rounded, with very short and blunt lobes. 



* * Racemes 5 - 9 -flowered, loose, slender, nodding. 



4. R. lac lustre, Poir. (SWAMP GOOSEBERRY.) Young stems clothed 

 with bristly prickles, and with weak thorns ; leaves heart-shaped, 3 - 5-parted, 

 \\ ith the lobes deeply cut ; calyx broad and flat ; stamens and style not longer 

 than the petals ; fruit bristly (small, unpleasant). Cold woods and swamps, 

 N. England to Wisconsin and northward. June. 



$2. RIBESIA, Berl. (CURRANT.) Stems neither prickly nor thorny: flowers 

 (greenish) in racemes: berries never prickly. 



5. R. p rostra til III, L'Her. (FETID CURRANT.) Stems reclined; 

 leaves deeply heart-shaped, 5 - 7-lobed, smooth ; the lobes ovate, acute, doubly 

 sen-ate ; racemes erect, slender ; calyx flattish ; pedicels and the (pale-red) fruit 

 gland id ar-biistly. Cold damp woods and rocks, from N. England and Penn. 

 northward. May. The bruised plant and berries exhale an unpleasant odor. 



6. R. fldridlim, L. (WILD BLACK CURRANT.) Leaves sprinkled with 

 resinous dots, slightly heart-shaped, sharply 3 - 5-lobed, doubly sen-ate ; racemes 

 drooping, downy ; bracts longer than the pedicels ; calyx tubular-bell-shaped, 

 smooth ; fruit round-ovoid, black, smooth. Woods ; common. May. Much 

 like the Black Currant of the gardens, which the berries resemble in sini-ll and 

 liavor. Flowers large. 



7. R. riibi'i&m, L. (RED CURRANT.) Stems straggling or reclined; 

 leaves somewhat heart-shaped, obtusely 3 - 5-lobed, sen-ate, downy beneath when 

 young ; race/tics from lateral buds distinct from the leaf-buds, drooping ; calyx flat 

 (green or purplish) ; fruit globose, smooth, red. Cold damp woods and bogs, 

 New Hampshire to Wisconsin and northward. Same as the Red Currant of the 

 gardens. (Eu.) 



R. AUREUM, Pursh, the BUFFALO or MISSOURI CURRANT, remarkable for 

 the spicy fragrance of its early yellow blossoms, is cultivated for ornament, Its 

 leaves are convolute (instead of plaited) in the bud. 

 12* 



