SAXIFRAGACE^E SAXIFRAGE FAMILY 



Ribes oxyacanthoides, (L.) var. calcicola, Fernald. 



Greenish-yellow Swamp Gooseberry, 



Smooth Currant. 

 May-June 



Ribes: the Arabic name. 



Oxyacanthoides: a Greek combination for sharp and spine, 

 in allusion to the spines on the stems. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: thickets, or open ground, dry 

 or moist soil, sometimes in open, boggy places. 



THE SHRUB: erect, branched, very bushlike; the stem 

 with soft and scattered prickles or with none, but with 

 short, soft hairs. 



THE LEAVES: alternate; palmately divided; sometimes 

 densely white-wooly below and above closely soft-hairy; 

 the lobes obtuse or acute; on petioles with soft hairs. 



THE FLOWERS: one to three on short stems which have 

 sometimes silky hairs; calyx five lobed, often coloured; 

 five petals; five stamens. 



THE FRUIT: a globose berry, without hairs or with fine, 

 soft ones, sometimes one half inch in diameter, reddish 

 purple when ripe. 



A low, spiny-appearing, dark green bush, with loosely 

 hung branches and numerous small, dark green leaves, is 

 the gooseberry. Occasionally one finds it growing on the 

 Commons, but usually in a thicket border, where it is an 

 inconspicuous neighbour to rose bushes and bayberry. 



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