408 THE BOOK OF GARDENING. 



for their autumn tints, the colours comprising shades of scarlet, 

 rose, yellow, bronze, &c. R. venenata (R. vernix, Toxico- 

 dendron pinnatuni) is ' well adapted for planting in damp soils ; 

 the leaves are somewhat similar to those of R. typhina, but 

 differ in being smooth, entire, and having purplish-red veins ; 

 it is handsome and of free growth. R. Toxicodendron (R. 

 mponica), the Poison Oak, has large trifoliate leaves, which 

 assume many rich shades in autumn ; but as its sap is poisonous, 

 care should be exercised in handling them. 



Ribes. — The Flowering Currants, with their graceful, pendulous 

 racemes of white, yellow, pink, rose, and crimson flowers, are 

 welcome. No soil or situation seems too bad for them, as 

 they may be planted with success in poor ground. Of late years 

 several hybrids have been obtained, which in point of beauty 

 eclipse the familiar R. sanguineum (Fig. 264). The variety named 



Fig.- 264.— Ribes sanguineum. 



R. s. albidum is not,' as its n^me would imply, pure white, as the 

 flowers are suffused with soft pink, with a deeper shade in the 

 centre. R. s. atrorubens bears small deep red flowers with 

 much freedom, while those of R. s. atrosanguineum are larger, 

 brighter, and represent the best of the red-flowered Currants. 

 R. Gordonianum (R. sanguineum x aureum), also met with under 

 the names of R. Beatoni and R. Loudonianum, forms a stout 

 bush with large handsome racemes of flowers intermediate in 

 colour between its parents. R. speciosum (R. fuchsioides, R. 

 stamineum) is a Californian species, and when in flower might 

 be considered one of the small-flowered Fuchsias, so much 

 alike are its wirie-red flowers with long stamens to those of 

 the popular flower named. On account of the profusion and 



