GOOSEBERRY (Ribes speciosum, Pursh). Flowers 

 bright red, half an inch long or more, exclusive of the much 

 exserted stamens, drooping in few-flowered racemes which 

 fringe the spreading branches at short intervals; petals erect, 

 shorter than the red, petal-like calyx lobes. Leaves rounded 

 and slightly lobed, thickish, shining, dark green. An ever- 

 green shrub 4 to 8 feet high, with leafy, reddish, bristly 

 branches, armed with stout, triple spines at the leaf axils. 

 Occurring abundantly in the foothills of Southern California 

 and blooming from January to April. 



From a botanical standpoint this is a true gooseberry; but 

 the fruit is small, dry and exceedingly prickly, a very mockery 

 of a berry. As a flowering plant, however, it is a glory, and the 

 prospect of finding it in blossom is in itself a sufficient incen- 

 tive to send one to the hills of a midwinter day. A bush in full 

 bloom is a memorable sight, the abundant pendulous blossoms 

 lining the stems for a space sometimes of several feet and 

 seeming fairly to drip color. It does well in cultivation. 



The general aspect of the drooping blossoms somewhat sug- 

 gests a small Fuchsia, for which reason the popular name Fuch- 

 sia-flowered Gooseberry is also given to it. 



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