270 Retrograde Varieties 



time, and therefore it seems best to give some 

 illustrative examples instead. 



Among the species of Ribes or currant, which 

 are cultivated in our gardens, the most beauti- 

 ful are without doubt the Californian and the 

 Missouri currant, or Ribes sanguineum and R. 

 aureum. A third form, often met with, is ' l Gor- 

 don 's currant/' which is considered to be a 

 hybrid between the two. It has some peculiar- 

 ities of both parents. The leaves have the gen- 

 eral form of the Californian parent, but are as 

 smooth as the Missouri species. The racemes 

 or flower-spikes are densely flowered as in the 

 red species, but the flowers themselves are of a 

 yellow tinge, with only a flesh-red hue on the 

 outer side of the calyx. It grows vigorously 

 and is easily multiplied by cuttings, but it never 

 bears any fruit. Whether it would be constant, 

 if fertile, is therefore impossible to decide. 



Berberis ilicifolia is considered as a hybrid 

 between the European barberry (B. vulgaris) 

 and the cultivated shrub Mahonia aquifolia. 

 The latter has pinnate leaves, the former undi- 

 vided ones. The hybrid has undivided leaves 

 which are more spiny than those of the Euro- 

 pean parent, and which are not deciduous like 

 them, but persist during the winter, a peculiar- 

 ity inherited from the Mahonia. As far as I 



