ALTERNATE HOSTS OF WHITE PINE BLISTER RUST 



471 



lacustre, has deeply-cut five-lobed leaves, greenish flowers 

 in clusters, dark purple bristly fruit and a prickly stem. In 

 the grouping of its characters it is obviously peculiar 

 among its kind, with the clusters of a currant and the 

 prickliness of a gooseberry ; and rival botanists leave us 

 the choice of calling it by either name. 



Garden currants, like garden gooseberries, frequently 

 escape to roadsides, thickets, and open woods. They may 



dogberry, in the parts of Connecticut in which much 

 pine grows. The occurrence of all of these species is not 

 as continuous as the maps, owing to their smallness, must 

 suggest ; but wherever within the shaded areas the favor- 

 able sites exist, they are almost certain to be. 



Furthermore, nearly all the New England and New 

 York species have ranges extending far to the north and 

 west, swamp red currant, swamp black currant and skunk 



be confused with native kinds, but not easily with plants 

 of any other genus. Taken separately, the leaves of 

 some hawthorns, of nine-bark, of maple-leaved viburnum 

 and high-bush cranberry might suggest their leaves, but 

 the recollection that their habit is low, straggling, or 

 recumbent, and that their leaves are alternate and, save 

 on young shoots, typically in bundles, will serve to keep 

 this genus distinct from others. Ordinarily, currants and 

 gooseberries bloom in May and June and form fruit in 

 July and August. Species preferring comparatively warm 

 sites may bloom in April. 



Given a foothold, the blister rust will find means of 

 spreading in any region. The accompanying maps indi- 

 cate the range of the various currant-gooseberry species 

 in the rest of New England and states immediately to the 

 west. All the species common in the Berkshires are com- 

 mon also in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and 

 Maine; New York has an additional species, the round- 

 leaved or Eastern wild gooseberry (R. rotundifolium, 

 Michx.), said by some to cross the Massachusetts line; 

 and the northern New England states have the skunk, 

 swamp red, and swamp black currants in even greater 

 abundance than has Massachusetts. There are quantities 

 of smooth gooseberry and wild black currant in eastern 

 Massachusetts, and some of both of these, along with 



currant running clear to the Pacific, and wild black cur- 

 rant, dog currant, or prickly gooseberry, and smooth, 

 hawthorn or northern gooseberry growing throughout the 

 Great Lakes region and well beyond the Mississippi. To 

 the west and north there also occur several other native 

 species. The currants and gooseberries are common in 

 nearly all parts of the north temperate zone ; and out of a 

 total of one hundred and twenty species and sub-species, 

 seventy occur in the United States. In whatever part of 

 our country the five-needle pines exist, some one of the 

 currants or gooseberries will be found not far away. 



NOMINATE FRIENDS FOR MEMBERSHIP 



The Association wishes to add Five Thousand Mem- 

 bers to its list before the end of this year. 



To do this it must have assistance from its present 

 members. If they will kindly send to the office names 

 of friends they wish nominated, these friends will be 

 sent sample copies and descriptive circulars. 



These names should be sent in at once. 



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