974 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART HI. 



so little was known of it in Paris, that the Parisians had not even an appro- 

 priate name for it. In Britain, it has certainly been brought to its present 

 highly improved state by the Lancashire weavers, about the end of the last 

 and the beginning of the present century ; and it might, probably, be traced 

 in company with the weavers, from Lancashire to Norwich, and from Norwich 

 back to the Low Countries, which, as we have already seen, were famous for 

 its culture. At present, the gooseberry is universally cultivated in Britain, 

 as one of our most valuable table and culinary fruits ; and the improved Bri- 

 tish varieties are finding their way throughout the continent of Europe, and 

 that of North America. 



Properties and Uses. The unripe fruit was formerly employed, in France, in 

 culinary preparations, for the same purposes as verjuice, to which Du Ilamel 

 says that it is inferior, from its peculiarly herbaceous taste. Gerard recom- 

 mends the unripe fruit to be used in broths, instead of verjuice ; and says that 

 the ripe berries, if eaten by themselves, " ingender raw and colde bloode." 

 The tender leaves, he says, if put into a salad, are good for curing the gravel. 

 The gooseberry, in its present improved state, is used in British kitchens, 

 before it is ripe, for tarts, puddings, sauces, creams, &c., and for preserving 

 whole, from the beginning of May till the middle of July, when it becomes 

 ripe. It is also used for making British champagne, or green gooseberry 

 wine. When ripe, it is brought to the dessert till the end of August ; and, by 

 shading the bushes of particular kinds, a supply may be kept on them till 

 October and November, and, in dry autumns, till Christmas. In a ripe state, 

 its principal culinary uses are for making jam and wine; but it is also em- 

 ployed for tarts and puddings, which are by some preferred to those made 

 of green gooseberries. Directions for making gooseberry wine (together with 

 a detail of the crushing-press, utensils, &c., requisite for making the British 

 champagne) will be found in the Gardener'' a Magazine, vol. viii. p. 180. and 

 p. 551. ; and in the same volume are also directions for making gooseberry 

 brandy. In the General Index to the first ten volumes of the Gardener's 

 Magazine, a great many references will be found to articles on the culture of 

 the gooseberry, and on the different purposes to which its fruit is applied by 

 British housewives ; and the essence of the whole information on the subject, 

 contained in that work, will be given in our Suburban Gardener. As we are 

 here treating of the gooseberry solely as an ornamental shrub, we consider 

 it unnecessary to enter into any details respecting the soil, situation, and 

 culture of a shrub so easily managed. 



a. Sorts of Gooseberries belonging to Division A, with greenish white Floirers, 

 which are not yet introduced. 



R. saxbsum Hook. ; R. saxfttile Dougl. MS. ; It. triflbrum Bigel. Fl. Post., edit. 2. p. 90. ; has the 

 stems rarely prickly, and the fruit resembling a common gooseberry. It is found wild about Lake 

 Huron, and may, we think, be considered as a variety of R. triflbrum. 



R. rotunrlifdlfum Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer., 1. p. 110., has the spines nearly axillary, the leaves 

 nearly orbicular, and the berries smooth. It is a native of the high mountains of Carolina. 



R. caucusicum Adams (Don's Mill., iii. p. 178.) has stipular prickles, and 5-lobed leaves. It is a 

 native of Caucasus, and "perhaps only a subvanety of R. G. U'va-cHspa." 



R. cuneifMwm Ruiz et Pav., and R. cucullatum Hook, et Arn., are described, in Don's Miller, as 

 natives of South America, with the habit of R. O. U'va-crispa. 



B. Flowers red. 

 afc 12. R. SPECIO V SUM Pursh. The shovty-Jloivercd Gooseberry. 



Identification. Pursh Fl. Amor. Sept., 2. p. 731. ; Dec. Prod., 3. p. 478. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 18T>. 

 Synonymcs. R. stamineum Smith in Recs's Cycl., Dec. Prod., 3. p. 477- ? R. fuchsiii'tdes Fl. Mex., 



ic. hied., Berlandier Mem. Soc. Phys. Gen., 3. pars 2. p. 43. t. 3. ; R. triacanthum Mcnzies. 

 Engravings. ?F1. Mex., an unpublished figure; Mem. Soc. Phys. Gen., 3. pars 2. t. 3. ; Sw. Fl.. 



Gartl., 2d ser., 1. 149. ; and our fig. 722. 



Spec. Char., $c. Shrub prickly. Prickles infra-axillary, triple. Branches 

 hispid. Leaves with petiole short, and disk wedge-shaped at the base, 

 rounded at the outer end, indistinctly 3-lobed, incisely crenate, glabrous, 

 and nerved. Peduncles longer than the leaves, and bearing 1 3 flowers. 

 Pedicels and germens hairy with glanded hairs. Bracteas rounded or very 



