984 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



hitherto been observed. Stigmas bifid. Berries globose, black, glandular. 

 The black currant is a shrub with smoothish branches, strong-smelling 

 leaves, with a solitary 1-flowered pedicel at the base of each raceme. The 

 flowers appear in April, and the fruit ripens in June and July ; and, when 

 ripe, changes from a green to black or a rich dark purple. (Don's Mi/I., 

 adapted, iii. p. 1 90.) A native of most parts of Europe ; growing to the 

 height of from 4 ft. to 6 ft., and flowering in April. 



Varieties. In a wild state, there are scarcely any varieties of what by botanists 

 is considered to be R. nigrum; but the botanical species, 7?. triste Pall., 

 R. altaicum Pall., and some others, we consider to be nothing more than 

 seminal varieties of the black currant in a wild state. The black currant is 

 indigenous in the woods of Russia, as far north as St. Petersburg ; and 

 we are informed by a correspondent there, on whom we can rely, that it is 

 not uncommon to meet with plants having the fruit, when ripe, green or 

 yellow, and sometimes even white. We are inclined to think that the 

 alleged hybrid with yellow fruit, mentioned below, of which we have pos- 

 sessed a plant since 1827, may be nothing more than one of these varieties. 

 a R. n. 2 bdcca Jldvidd Gard. Mag., vol. 10. p. 171., is supposed to be a 

 hybrid between the black and white currants, and to have been ori- 

 ginated in the neighbourhood of Bath, previously to 1827. The 

 fruit is of a dingy greenish yellow ; but the plant has the habit and 

 general appearance of R. nigrum . 



& R. n. 3 bdcca v'tridd Hort. has the fruit green when ripe. This variety 

 is common in Russia in a wild state; and plants of it are in the 

 Horticultural Society's Garden. 



* R. n. 4ffdliis variegdtis Vilmorin has the leaves variegated with streaks 

 of yellow. There is a plant of it in Dennis's Nursery, King's Road, 

 Chelsea. 



Garden Varieties. Six of these are enumerated in the Horticultural So- 

 ciety's Fruit Catalogue of 1831, the best of which are the black Naples and 

 the large black. The fruit of the former variety is very large and handsome, 

 more especially when the plant is grown in deep rich soil, and in a situation 

 rather shady and moist. 



Description. The black currant, in a wild state, forms a lower and more di- 

 vergent bush than the red currant. The wood is smooth and soft, and the buds 

 large ; the leaves are large, soft, glandular, and, as well as the branches and 

 buds, have a strong savin-like scent when rubbed. The flowers are green or 

 yellowish, often with the tips of the sepals red ; and the fruit, in a wild state, 

 is much larger than that of the red currant. It is a vigorous free-growing 

 shrub, but not of long duration. 



Geography, History, $c. The black currant appears to have the same 

 geographical range as the red ; but it is much more abundant than that spe- 

 cies in the north of Europe, and less so in the south. In Britain, it is not 

 unfrequent in woods and hedges, in some districts ; but it is probably not 

 truly indigenous any where. It is particularly abundant in the north of 

 Russia, where its fruit is much sought after by bears. It is found in Siberia, 

 and on Caucasus, and is abundant in Sweden. There appear to be species of 

 Rlbes with black fruit in India and South America, which are probably 

 varieties of R. nigrum, and may be considered as the black currant of those 

 countries. When the black currant was first cultivated in gardens is un- 

 certain ; and there is no evidence of its having been known to the ancients, 

 which it probably was not, on account of the plant being comparatively un- 

 common in the south and east of Europe. It is mentioned by Gerard, who 

 speaks of it as having flowers of a purplish green colour, succeeded by fruit 

 as big again as the ordinary red currant, but " of a stinking and somewhat 

 loathing savour." The black currant is not mentioned by the earliest French 

 horticultural writers ; but in Du Hamel's Arbrcs Fruitier* it is enumerated 

 among other fruit shrubs, though it is described more as a medicinal plant 

 than as a table fruit. Its fruit, Du Hamel says, passes for being stomachic, 



