464 BUSH-FBUITS 



prickles; thorns mostly triple, heavy and thick at the base, the 

 central one %-/o inch (10-13 mm.) long; leaves thick and very 

 glossy, pubescent; petioles sometimes sparsely beset with glandu- 

 lar-tipped hairs"; peduncles short, 1-2-flowered, pubescent or 

 glandular; calyx strongly pubescent, greenish, tube broad, bell- 

 shaped; lobes broadly ovate, thickish and leaf-like; petals obo- 

 vate, reaching to the base of the anthers; stamens shorter than 

 the calyx lobes; style commonly 2-cleft, villous at base; ovary 

 pubescent or glandular; berry generally oval, large, green, yel- 

 lowish green or red, minutely but roughly pubescent, often with 

 scattered prickles or glandular-tipped hairs also. 



Original Distrihution. — Europe, northern Africa and western 

 Asia. Linne applied the name uva erispa to the smooth-fruited 

 form. 



Botanically, the American and European gooseberry differ but 

 little. The above characters appear to separate wild forms, but 

 may not be constant in cultivation. Horticulturally the two spe- 

 cies differ much. This is the parent of the English gooseberries. 

 It is widely cultivated throughout Europe, and endless varieties 

 have been produced. Thory* describes and illustrates by colored 

 plates no less than fifteen forms which he ranks as botanical 

 varieties. 



25. R. CYNOSBATi, Linn. (Fig. 94.) 



Compact shrub, 2-4 feet (6-12 decimeters) high; branches 

 commonly smooth, sometimes beset with fine, slender, reflexed 

 prickles; thorns commonly single, slender, fine pointed, i%-f inch 

 C5-10 mm.) long; leaves 3-5-lobed, coarsely and bluntly toothed; 

 petioles long and slender, pubescent, and bearing glandular-tipped 

 hairs; peduncles long, filiform, 1-2-flowered, pubescent and glan- 

 dular; flowers small, greenish, calyx tube broadly bell-shaped; 

 lobes narrow, oblong, acute, half as long as the tube; petals 

 minute, half as long as the calyx lobes; stamens shorter than the 

 calyx; style single or 2-cleft, slightly longer than the stamens; 

 ovary glandular-hispid; berry large, generally prickly, reddish 

 purple. 



New Brunswick to the mountains of North Carolina and west- 

 ward to the Rocky Mountains. 



This is a promising species. As found wild, its fruit is larger 

 than that of E. oxyacanthoides, often reaching half an inch in 

 diameter. Though generally prickly, plants with smooth fruit 



*Monograi»hie ou Histoire Naturelle du Genre Grosseillier. 



