263 



GROSSULARIA, 



CURRANT BUSH. 



1 HERE are two kinds of cultivated currant bushes: the cluster currant bush and the 

 thorny gooseberry bush. 



I. Cluster CURRANT BUSH. 



DESCRIPTION. 



This bush grows fairly tall and spreads out as much as its shape and its cultivation 

 permit. 



Its shoots are long, straight, stout, & strong (assuming that it's not old or in poor 

 ground). They're covered by a flaxen-gray epidermis with fibers that are longitudinal or 

 oriented lengthwise along the shoot. During the winter large pieces of it fall off & leave 

 behind a kind of powder of the same color that adheres strongly to the shoots. This covers 

 a thin, transparent, leathery bark with fibers that circle or spiral around the shoot. Above, 

 it's a light brown with whitish spots. Underneath it's a light reddish or onion-skin color. 

 Below this layer there's a second thicker leathery one that's a beautiful green with 

 similarly circular fibers. Beneath that one there's a third one that's light green, & lastly a 

 layer of phloem, or fourth layer of bark, that's whitish, spongy, & not very firm. The 

 fibers in these last two layers are longitudinal. Branches of old wood have no epidermis, 

 but their four layers of bark 



