436 



PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS 



EIBES 



Tribe V. Ribbsib^. — Shrubs with alternate simple leaves. Stipules none or 

 adnate to the leaf stalk. Flowers usually in racemes. Ovary inferior. Seeds im- 

 mersed in pulp (as in Gooseberry). 



RIBES (Currant ; Gooseberry). — 

 A genus containing nearly 60 species of 

 spiny or unarmed shrubs, with the cha- 

 racters of the tribe. Calyx-tube ovoid 

 or spherical with a 4-5 -parted limb ; 

 lobes usually coloured, erect or recurved. 

 Petals 4-5, small, scale-like, inserted with 

 the 4-5 stamens on the throat of the 

 calyx. Styles 2, distinct or united. Berry 

 oblong or round, pulpy. 



Only the ornamental flowering shrubs 

 belonging to the genus Bibes are described 

 here. The Currant [B. ruhrum and iJ. 

 nigrum) and the Gooseberry (JJ. Oroaau- 

 laria) are dealt with in the Fruit section 

 of this work (see pp. 1092, 1095). 



Culture wncL Propagation. — The 

 Flowering Currants thrive in any good 

 garden soil, and are beautiful enough to 

 deserve better treatment than they usually 

 receive. In groups by themselves they 

 are far more effective than when 

 smothered in shrubberies. They are 

 easily increased by layers, or by cuttings 

 of the ripened shoots about 9 in. long in 

 autumn, as in the case of the cultivated 

 Currant (p. 1095) . Seeds are ripened freely 

 by many kinds, and may be sown as soon 

 as ripe in cold frames, or in spring in 

 gentle bottom heat. The seedlings should 

 be pricked out and grown on untU large 

 enough to transfer to the open in mild 

 showery weather in spring or autumn. 

 To keep the plants in a good healthy con- 

 dition and proper shape, a little prvming 

 in winter may be practised, chiefly vidth 

 a view to thinning out old or useless 

 branches, and to prevent the centre of 

 the bushes becoming choked with weak 

 growths. 



R. alpinum. — A compact-growing 

 spineless shrub 3-5 ft. high, native of the 

 Northern hemisphere, and often found 

 growing wild in parts of Britain. Its 

 slender branches are furnished with 

 broadly ovate leaves 1^-2 in. across, some- 

 what 3-5-lobed and coarsely serrate, and 

 more or less hairy on both surfaces. The 

 yellowish -green flowers appear in April 

 and May, and are not particularly attrac- 

 tive. The sexes however are distinct, 

 the males and females being borne on 

 separate bushes. 



Culture dc. as above. Useful for 



planting in poor soO and in shady places. 

 There is a yeUow-leaved variety (aureum), 

 and also a dwarf form called pvmMum. 



R. americanum {B. floridum ; B. 

 ndssouriense). — A spineless N. American 

 shrub about 4 ft. high. Leaves rather 

 heart-shaped, 3-5-lobed, and doubly ser- 

 rate, in autumn assuming a beautiful 

 bright purple-bronze colour suffused with 

 gold and crimson. Flowers in May, 

 whitish, in drooping downy racemes. 



R. aureum (Buffalo Currant). — A 

 smooth, spineless N. American shrub 6-8 

 ft. high, with 3-lobed, irregularly toothed 

 leaves. Flowers in April and May, 

 golden-yeUow, in long racemes. Fruit 

 yellow, rarely black. The variety prtscox 

 flowers earlier than the type, and sero- 

 tinum later, and finer. The variety known 

 as aura/ntiacum minus is one of the best, 

 its flowers being of a deep orange-yellow 

 and sweet-scented. There are other less 

 weU-known forms, as tenuifiorum, and 

 its variation fructu-nigro, the fruits of 

 which change from yellow to red and 

 then blackish-purple. 



Culture dc. as above. 



R. cereum (JB. inebrians). — A pretty 

 spineless N. American shrub 3 ft. high. 

 Leaves almost round, bluntly 3-lobed, 

 crenate, viscid. Flowers in May, white, 

 tinged with pink, 3-5 on a drooping, 

 downy raceme. 



Culture dc. as above. 



R. gordonianum (-B. Beatoni; B. 

 Loudoni). — A distinct and beautiful 

 hybrid between B. aureum and B. 

 sa/nguineum, the character of each being 

 transmitted and mingled, the flowers 

 being reddish tinted with yellow. 



Culture dc. as above. 



R. Lobbi. — A rare Californian shrub 

 3-5 ft. high, with prickly stems and lobed 

 and toothed leaves like an ordmary Goose- 

 berry bush, being also furnished with 

 triple spines. The deep reddish-purple 

 flowers appear in April and May, 1-3 on 

 each stalk. The calyx lobes are spreading 

 and thus give the flower a diameter of 

 about an inch. 



Culture dc. as above. 



