338 FLOWERING SHRUBS 



BRISTLY GOOSEBERRY 



Ribes setosum. Saxifrage Family 



Stems : with infra-axillary spines, slender, spreading, sometimes none ; 

 bristles usually numerous, scattered. Leaves: slender-petioled, broadly 

 ovate in outline, five-lobed, the lobes incised-dentate. Flowers : greenish- 

 white ; calyx-tube cylindric, longer than the oblong lobes; stamens not 

 exserted. Fruit : a globose purple berry, pulpy, the calyx persistent on 

 its summit, sparingly bristly or often glabrous. 



The bush on which this Bristly Gooseberry grows is found 

 in the shady woods, and attains an average height of three 

 feet. The flowers are greenish-white and very insignificant, 

 and the fruit consists of a small purple pulpy berry, which is 

 sweet to the taste. 



RED CURRANT 



Ribes riibrum. Saxifrage Family 



Unarmed. Leaves : pubescent beneath, orbicular, three-to-five lobed, 

 cordate at the base, the lobes obtuse, sharply dentate. Flowers : in 

 greenish to purplish racemes, pendulous, loosely flowered; calyx flat, 

 campanulate ; stamens short. Fruit : red, glabrous. 



This is the wild counterpart of our cultivated Garden Cur- 

 rant. In the shadowy depths of the mountain forests the 

 pendent tassels of tiny greenish or purplish flowers are seldom 

 noticed, and the small red fruit is not at all palatable, being 

 extremely acid and possessing a woody flavour. 



DEVIL'S CLUB 



Fatsia horrida. Ginseng Family 



Stems : stout, two to twelve feet high, decumbent at the base, leafy at 

 the summit, very prickly throughout. Leaves : palmately lobed. Flowers : 

 the greenish-white capitate umbels in a long dense raceme ; calyx-teeth 

 obsolete ; petals five, valvate in the bud ; stamens five, alternate with the 

 petals ; filaments filiform. Fruit: drupaceous. 



