320 130TANY OF CROP PLANTS 



CURRANTS 



Species. — There are four principal species of currants in 

 American currant culture. 



(i) Ribes rubrum {R. vulgar e) includes all our red and 

 white varieties, and is the most important species commer- 

 cially. The leaves are hairy at first, but become smooth with 

 age. The small, greenish-yellow or purphsh flowers are in 

 drooping racemes. The fruit varies in color; it may be 

 bright red, yellowish, white, or striped. This species is found 

 growing wild from New England to Minnesota and north- 

 ward; also in Europe and Asia. Commercially, its culture is 

 restricted to northern latitudes. Important varieties are 

 Victoria, Red Dutch, Cherry, Versaillaise, Fay, Prince 

 Albert, and White Grape. 



(2) Ribes nigrum, the European black currant, is but Httle 

 cultivated in America. It differs from the preceding in 

 several respects: the lower surfaces of leaves are covered with 

 yellow, resinous dots, and the fruit is black. The greenish- 

 white flowers are in drooping racemes, and the fruit and 

 toral tube are both hairy and resinous-dotted. This currant 

 is a native of middle and northeast Europe, through northern 

 Asia to Manchuria and northern China. 



(3) Ribes americanum, the native wild black currant of 

 America, is not cultivated to any extent. The plant has a 

 spreading habit. As in the European black currant, the 

 lower surfaces of leaves are resinous-dotted, and the fruit is 

 black in color, but it differs from the European species in that 

 the toral tube and fruit are not resinous. It is distributed 

 from Nova Scotia and New England south to Virginia and 

 westward to Colorado and Manitoba. 



(4) Ribes aureum is the chief American flowering currant. 

 It is cultivated principally as an ornamental shrub, but also 



