FLOWERS 



RED CURRANTS 



297 



peculiarity helps to identify several varieties. 

 The angle at which the petiole holds the leaf- 

 blade is also a mark of distinction. Thus, the 

 leaf of Prince Albert is held stiffly upright; 

 that of Victoria, horizontally and somewhat 

 lax; and in Fay the leaves point downward. 



The leaves of all Ribes are more or less 

 rugose, but the veins are more sunken and 

 the spaces between more elevated in some 

 varieties than in others. The degree of rugose- 

 ness is a particularly valuable mark in distin- 

 guishing gooseberries. 



Flowers. 



The flowers serve especially well in identi- 

 fying currants, as they do also in gooseberries, 

 but since varieties of gooseberries are much 

 more readily identified by the fruit, a study 

 of the flower is not so necessary as with the 

 currant. In the three species of currants in 

 which pomologists are interested, the flowers 

 are very distinct and help to separate the 

 varieties and to determine hybrids as well. 

 The varieties of R. vulgar e have a flat, open, 

 green flower with a fleshy ring around the 

 pistil, and the racemes hang down; in R. rub- 

 rum the flowers are more bell-shaped, without 

 the fleshy ring; and in R. petrceum the 

 racemes are drooping, bearing flowers broadly 

 campanulate and pink, purple, or claret red. 

 The flowers of Red Dutch represent the Vul- 

 gare type; those of Ruby, the Rubrum; and 

 those of Prince Albert, the Petraeum type. 

 The varieties of the three species differ ma- 

 terially in the time when the flowers open. 

 The black currant and the golden currant, 

 R. nigrum and R. odoratum, are told at a 

 glance by size, color, and odor of the flowers, 

 but there are but small differences to be dis- 

 covered in the flowers of varieties of these 

 species. There seem to be no reliable differ- 

 ences in the flowers of the two species of cul- 

 tivated gooseberries. 



Fruits. 



Gooseberries, as a rule, are distinguished 

 readily by their fruits. Varieties may usually 

 be separated by the size, color, or shape of the 

 berry, or by the many distinct flavors, the 

 smoothness or pubescence of the surface, the 

 texture and juiciness of the flesh, or the time 

 of ripening. The fruits of European goose- 

 berries are much larger than those of American 

 sorts and more variable in size, as they are 

 also in color and shape. In color, European 

 gooseberries may be dark red, dull green, or 

 clear yellow; or may have pale tints of these 

 colors, while some are almost white. Ameri- 

 can gooseberries are green or red. 



Varieties of black currants are also readily 

 separated by their fruits. The several sorts 

 vary greatly in size, color, and, more particu- 

 larly, in flavor and odor. Each variety, also, 

 has a season of its own to characterize it. 



The red currants are much more difficult to 

 separate by means of fruit-characters. Size 

 and color help a little but often lead astray. 

 Shape counts for little and flavor for still less. 

 Such expressions as sour, subacid, and mild 



mean but little, because of the difficulty of 

 comparing varieties at the same stage of 

 maturity. The number of currants to the 

 bunch is a fairly reliable character. The bunch 

 may be large or small ; loose or compact. The 

 lengths of the fruit-stem and berry-stems are 

 usually constant. Transparency of berry char- 

 acterizes one or two varieties. The berries are 

 held on one side of the stem in some varieties, 

 and the bunches droop in some or stand out 

 rather stiffly in others. The stems may be 

 smooth or hairy. Skins vary in thickness, 

 transparency, and smoothness. The flesh 

 varies in texture and juiciness. Seeds offer no 

 decided means of separation, although they 

 vary a little in size, color, and number. Lastly, 

 the time of ripening may be used as one of 

 the safest characters. This enumeration would 

 make it seem that currants might readily be 

 picked out by their fruit-characters, but in 

 practice the task is not easy and requires close 

 study. 



The accompanying description blank for the 

 currant sets forth most of the characters stu- 

 dents and fruit-growers will use in describing 

 currants and gooseberries. 



Species of currants and gooseberries. 



Currants and gooseberries are modern fruits, 

 for their domestication has taken place within 

 the last four or five hundred years, despite 

 which fact it is now difficult to make out how 

 many species enter into cultivated varieties. 

 That there is now but one species each for 

 cultivated black currants and golden currants 

 is certain, but some botanists place the red 

 currants in one, others in two, and still others 

 in three or four species. There is divided 

 opinion, also, as to whether cultivated goose- 

 berries belong to one, two, or three species, 

 most botanists putting them in two. One of 

 the most thorough pomological students of red 

 currants, E. A. Bunyard, Maidstone, England, 

 places red currants in three species, a classifi- 

 cation followed here, although two others are 

 mentioned as having entered into cultivated 

 hybrids. 



RED CURRANTS 



Cultivated red currants, as has been said, 

 come from at least three wild species, with 

 the possibility that the blood of a fourth or 

 fifth enters into some of the hybrid garden 

 sorts. The species are: Ribes rubrum, R. vul- 

 gare and R. petrceum. White currants are true 

 albinos of the red species, R. vulgar e furnishing 

 most of the white varieties. 



1. Ribes vulgare, Lam. Red Currant. Garden Cur- 

 rant. Upright shrubs attaining a height of 5 or 6 feet; 

 young growth pubescent and slightly glandular. Leaves 

 thin, cordate or subcordate, 3-5 lobed, with short-ovate, 

 serrate lobes, yellowish-green, more or less folded up- 

 ward, nearly hairless or pubescent only on the veins 

 beneath, 3 inches across. Flower in long racemes, 

 markedly drooping ; rachis glabrous ; pedicels filiform, 

 glandless ; calyx-tube yellow-green, saucer-shaped ; sepals 

 oval ; petals narrowly cuneate ; a high, narrow, fleshy 

 ring between the stamens and the cleft style. Fruit a 

 round, red or white, juicy berry, with the remnant of 

 the calyx at the base. 



