GOOSEBERRY FAMILY. Grossulariaceae. 



There are many kinds of Ribes, or Currant, of temperate 

 regions; shrubs, almost always smooth; flowers sometimes 

 blooming before the leaves, with five petals, smaller than 

 the five calyx-lobes, which are often colored ; stamens five; 

 ovary inferior, fruit a smooth, many-seeded berry. In 

 general the low shrubs, with their pretty foliage, may be 

 recognized by their resemblance to cultivated kinds. 

 Ribes is the ancient Arabic name. 



Except that its foliage has a strong dis- 

 a 2 reeable smell > this is an attractive shrub, 

 three to six feet high, with pale gray, 

 White woody stems, without thorns, and smooth, 



Spring, summer bright green leaves, five-lobed and thin in 



Utah, Wash., texture, paler on the under side, with 

 Idaho, etc. . ' 



resinous dots and broad, papery stipules, 



in clusters, with reddish bracts at the base. The flowers 

 form close, erect clusters, less than two inches long, spring- 

 ing from the same bud as the leaves; the calyx, which is 

 the conspicuous part, cream-white, greenish in the center; 

 the petals very small and white. The berry is smooth or 

 hairy, round and black, without "bloom," and possibly 

 edible, but so bad-smelling as to be avoided. This grows 

 beside mountain streams and is found as far north as 

 British Columbia. 



A thrifty, mountain bush, from three to 

 Sierra Currant 



Ribes Nevadense S1X feet hl g h the u PP er stems P ale g ra y 

 Pink and the lower ones reddish; the leaves 



Summer thin and smooth, prettily scalloped and 



Net' reg " WaSh "lobed, often with a few white hairs at the 

 base of the leaf-stalks. The flowers are 

 fragrant and pink, over half an inch long, and form a close 

 cluster, of eight or more. The berry is black, with a white 

 "bloom," and tastes sweet and insipid. This reaches an 

 altitude of eight thousand feet. Ribes glutinbsum is 

 called Incense-shrub, because of its strong fragrance. It is 

 a large handsome shrub, sometimes fifteen feet high, with 

 beautiful drooping clusters of gay pink flowers. The 

 leaves are sticky when they first come out and the berry 

 is blue, with a dense "bloom," bristly, dry and bitter, or 

 insipid. This blooms in winter or early spring and is 

 common in canyons near the coast. 



212 



