2956 



RHYNCHOSTYLIS 



RIBES 



Harrisonianum, Hort. (Saccolabium Harrisonianum, 

 Hook.). Lvs. distichous, oblong, obliquely bifid at the 

 apex: raceme dense, cylindrical, pendulous; fls. white, 

 fragrant; sepals ovate-oblong, somewhat incurved; 

 petals narrower, oblong-spatulate ; labellum oblong-obo- 

 vate, with a thick blunt apiculus, saccate toward the 

 apex; spur blunt; disk with a single thickened line. 

 Malay Isls. B.M. 5433. F.S. 23:2412. The racemes 

 grow to a length of 2 ft. 



ccelestis, Reichb. f. (Saccolabium codeste, Reichb. f.). 

 St. rather stout: Ivs. 4-6 in. long, fleshy: peduncles 

 erect, bearing a dense raceme: fls. crowded, %in. across; 

 sepals and petals similar, oval-oblong, obtuse, white 

 with a blotch of indigo, at apex; lip obovate-oblong, 

 white at base, bright indigo at apex. Siam. 



HEINRICH HASSELBRING. 



GEORGE V. NAsn.f 



RHYTIGLOSSA (Greek, wrinkle and tongue, the 

 palate of the lower lip is wrinkled). Acanthacex. A 

 genus in which about 75 species have been described, 

 now referred to Dianthera, which see. 



RIBES (probably derived from ribas, the Arabic 

 name for Rheum Ribes, or by some supposed to be the 

 Latinized form of riebs, an old German word for cur- 

 rant). Saxifragacese. CURRANT. GOOSEBERRY. Woody 

 plants partly grown for their edible fruits and partly 

 for their handsome flowers, fruits, or foliage. 



Unarmed or prickly shrubs with deciduous or rarely 

 evergreen foliage: Ivs. alternate, often fascicled, simple, 

 usually palmately lobed and mostly plaited in the bud: 

 fls. perfect or in some species dioecious, 5-merous, rarely 

 4-merous, in many-fld. to few-fld. racemes, or solitary; 

 calyx-tube cylindric to rotate, like the sepals usually 

 colored; petals usually smaller than the sepals, often 

 minute, rarely entirely wanting; stamens alternating 

 with the petals, shorter or longer than the sepals; ovary 

 inferior, 1-celled; styles 1 or 2 (Fig. 3401): fr. a many- 

 seeded pulpy berry, crowned by the remains of the calyx. 

 About 150 species in the colder 

 and temperate regions of N. and 

 S. Amer., N. and Cent. Asia, Eu., 

 and N. Afr. The genus is some- 

 times divided into two: the true 

 Ribes with usually unarmed sts., 

 racemose fls., and jointed pedicels, 

 and Grossularia (p. 1414) with 

 prickly sts.; fls. solitary or in short 

 2-4-fld. racemes and with the 

 pedicels not jointed. The most 

 recent monograph of the genus is 

 by Janczewski, Monographic des 

 Groseilliers, 1907 (originally published in Mem. Soc. 

 Phys. Nat. Hist. Geneve, 35:199-517, with 202 figs.), 

 with important supplements in Bull. Acad. Sci. Cracovic, 

 ser. B, 1910-13. The N. American species are treated 

 by Coville & Britton in North American Flora, 22 : 193- 

 225 (1908) under the two genera Ribes and Grossu- 

 laria. There are also descriptions and figures of the 

 more important species in Card's Bush Fruits, 444- 

 84, figs. 80-109 (1911). 



The currants and gooseberies are usually low, 

 upright or less often procumbent deciduous, rarely 

 evergreen shrubs with prickly or unarmed branches, 

 small or medium-sized usually lobed leaves, with rather 

 small solitary or racemose flowers often greenish or red- 

 dish and insignificant, but in some species white or 

 brightly colored in shades of red, scarlet, orange or 

 yellow; the fruits also are often attractive and either 

 black, purple, scarlet, yellowish or greenish. The 

 flowers appear in spring with the leaves, and the fruits 

 ripen in June or July, but in R. fasciculatum they do 

 not mature until September and remain on the branches 

 all winter. Most species are hardy North except the 

 evergreen ones; also R. sanguineum, R. Roezlii, R. 



3401. Flower of gar- 

 den currant, to show 

 structure. (X4) 



Lobbii, R. viscosissimum are not quite hardy North. 

 The tender R. speciosum with fuchsia-like bright red 

 flowers is perhaps the most showy species of the genus, 

 though also R. sanguineum, R. odoratum, R. Gordonia- 

 num, R. Roezlii, R. Lobbii, R. pinetorum, R. cereum, R. 

 inebrians, R. niveum, and others are handsome in bloom, 

 while some, as R. alpinum and R. fasciculatum, have 

 ornamental scarlet fruits. They are well adapted for 

 borders of shrubberies and, particularly the procumbent 

 kinds, for planting on slopes. R. alpinum is excellent 

 for shady places and as undergrowth. R. alpestre, a 

 strong-growing and very spiny gooseberry from western 

 China, may prove valuable as a hedge-plant. Many 

 species bear edible fruits; the most important are the 

 domestic currant, R. vulgare, and the European goose- 

 berry, R. Grossularia; of less importance are the black 

 currant, R. nigrum, the Buffalo or Missouri currant, R. 

 odoratum, the European R. rubrum and some of the 

 American gooseberries, as R. hirtellum, R. Cynosbati, R. 

 oxyacanthoides, R.setosum, R.inerme. These plants' are 

 mostly of easy cultivation; they grow in any moder- 

 ately good loamy soil, the gooseberries preferring as a 

 rule drier and sunnier positions, while the currants like 

 more humidity and grow well in partly shaded situa- 

 tions. Propagation is by seeds which germinate readily; 

 also by hardwood cuttings in autumn and by green- 

 wood cuttings in summer under glass; mound-layering 

 in summer is sometimes practised; budding or graft- 

 ing is usually resorted to only, if quick propagation of 

 rare varieties is desired. In Europe, currants and goose- 

 berries are sometimes grafted high on R. odoratum 

 trained to one stem, to form little standard trees. See 

 also Currant and Gooseberry for cultivation. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



A. Branches unarmed (or 2 small prickles 

 below the If. in No. 19): fls. usually 

 in racemes; pedicles not jointed. 

 B. Fls. tubular, red, yellow or white. 

 c. Color of fls. yellow; fls. glabrous: 

 Ivs. convolute in bud. 



