WILD BLACK CURRANT 



hush is found in Europe, Asia and America. With us 

 7^i7?rs rubnuii inhahils a belt extending- across the con- 

 tinent from Labrador to Ahiska, and soul li ward to 

 New Jersey, Indiana and Minnesota. In New Jinghmd 

 and the INFiddle States, however, the wild currant bush 

 by the roadside is much more likely to be an escape 

 from the gardens than a direct member of the ancient 

 line. 



WILD BLACK CURRANT 



Rlbcs Jlondiim. R]bcs amcrica)uun. 



Erect, three to five feet high. Ranges from Nova Scotia to 

 Manitoba, and southward to Kentucky, Iowa and Nebraska. 



Leaves. — Alternate or clustered, three to fivedohed, nearly or- 

 bicular, two to three and onedialf inches wide, pahnately veined, 

 heart-shaped at base, glabrous above, downy and resinous-dotted 

 beneath ; lobes coarsely dentate-serrate, depressed above, ridged 

 below. They come out of the bud plicate, pale green and 

 downy; when full grown are bright green above, paler beneath. 

 In autumn they take on a deej) l)ronze, or fall with little change 

 of color. 



Flowers. — April, May. Perfect, greenish wliitc or yellow, 

 bell-shaped, three-eighths to one- fourth of an inch long, borne 

 in pendulous, loosely-flowered, downy racemes, which ajjpear 

 from tlie same buds as the leaves. 



Calyx. — Calyx-tube bell-shaped, coherent with the ovary, 

 border four to five-lobed ; lobes short, rounded, petaloid, green- 

 ish white. 



Corolla. — Petals four to five, inserted on the throat of the 

 calyx, greenish white. 



Stamejis. — Four to five, inserted on the lliroat of tlie calyx, 

 alternate with the ])etals, included. 



Pistil. — Ovary inferior, one-celled ; st\les two. 



Fruit. — Herry, globose-ovoid, black, smooth, one-fourth of an 

 inch in diameter ; crowned with the remnant of a calyx. 



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