246 GROSSULACE^. Ribes. 



Order XLIIT. GROSSULACEiE. DC. The Currant Tribe. 



Calyx campanulate or tubular, often colored, withering, 5- (rarely 4-) cleft ; 

 segments at length spreading or reflexed. Petals small, as many as the seg- 

 ments of the calyx and alternate with them, inserted into the throat of the 

 calyx. Stamens as many as the petals, and inserted alternately with them. 

 Ovary coherent with the calyx-tube, 1-celled with 2-parietal placentae : ovules 

 mostly numerous : styles 2 (very rarely 3 or 4), united or distinct. Fruit a 

 berry, crowned with the withered flower. Seeds anatropous ; the raphe at 

 length distinct from the gelatinous testa : the tegmen crustaceous, strongly 

 adhering to the dense almost horny albumen. Embryo minute. — Shrubs, 

 mostly spiny or prickly, with alternate (often fascicled) palmately veined and 

 lobed leaves. Flowers racemose, sometimes solitary. 



1. RIBES. Linn.; DC. prodr. 3. p. 477. currant and gooseberry. 



[An ancient Arabic name for a plant, supposed by the «lder botanists to be tlie Gooseberry.] 



Character same as that of the order. 



ij 1. Grossularia, a. Rich. Stems usually armed with subaxillary spines, and often prickly: 

 peduncles mostly 1 - 3-Jlowered : calyx more or less campanulate : berries often prickly. 

 (Gooseberry.) 



1. RiBES Cynosbati, Linn. Prickly Gooseberry. 



Stem either unarmed or prickly ; subaxillary spines 1 - 3 ; leaves cordate, roundish, 

 3 - 5-lobed, more or less pubescent, the lobes incisely serrate ; peduncles 2 - 3-flowered ; 

 tube of the calyx broadly campanulate, slightly contracted at the mouth ; the segments at 

 length reflexed, shorter than the tube, and longer than the obovate petals ; stamens and styles 

 slightly included ; style undivided, hairy at the base ; fruit prickly, or rarely smooth. — Linn, 

 sp. 1. p. 202 ; Miclix. Jl.\. p. Ill; Jacq. hort. Vindob. 2. t. 123 ; Pursh, Jl. I. p. 166 ; 

 Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 91 ; DC. prodr. 3. p. 479 ; Hook. jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 230 (excl. y.); 

 " Guinip- Otto 4- Hayne, holz. t. 135." R. gracile, Terr. Jl. 1. p. 269, not oi Michx. 



A bush 2 — 4 feet high, erect, the lower part often prickly. Subaxillary spines mostly 2, 

 sometimes wanting. Leaves clothed with a soft pubescence, particularly underneath ; petioles 

 downy. Raceme nodding ; the pedicels long and slender, divaricate. Calyx greenish white ; 

 the segments lanceolate, rather acute, ciliate , at first erect, but at length reflexed. Fruit 

 brownish when ripe, usually armed with strong prickles so as to resemble a burr, but occa- 

 sionally smooth. 



Woods, particularly on mountain sides. Fishkill and Catskill mountains ; also in the 

 northern and western part of the State. May - June. 



