FLOWERING SHRUBS 
proper treatment, be made valuable and serviceable to man. 
Of the Wild Gooseberry there are several kinds, the best and 
most palatable being the smooth-skinned, small purple 
Gooseberry, Ribes oxyacanthoides; this is the least thorny 
of the genus, and by cultivation can be rendered a nice and 
serviceable fruit for preserving and other table uses. 
This shrub grows in low ground or on the borders of 
beaver meadows and damp thickets, and seems to be found 
in every part of the Dominion. The bush is low, not more 
than from three to four feet in height, or less, with not very 
prickly stems, and with smooth berries, generally in pairs; 
the calyx of the flower is purplish and the fruit when ripe is 
of a dark purple color; the leaves are smooth and shining, 
and pale beneath. 
THORNBERRY—PRICKLY GOOSEBERRY—IJtibes Cynosbati (L.). 
The fruit of this Wild Gooseberry is perfectly rough and 
spiny and is troublesome to gather, but in old times it was 
sought for by the settlers in the backwoods as a welcome 
addition to their scanty fare. By scalding and rubbing the 
berries in a coarse cloth much of the roughness was removed ; 
in their green state the berries were used in the form of pies 
and puddings, or, when softened, mixed with sugar and milk. 
When ripe they were made into preserves, but the harshness 
of the bristly skin was not very easily overcome, especially 
if the fruit was over-ripe. Still it was one of the cheap 
luxuries that found a welcome place at the shanty table. 
This is a tall bush from four to six feet in height, growing 
in dry rocky woods, and bearing a profusion of greenish 
bells, in the month of May, from one to three on each slender 
pedicel. 
Another of our native Gooseberries, not so wholesome nor 
so useful, is the 
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