968 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART II 



Genus I. 



— I 1 — 



RPBES L. The Ribes. Lin. Syst. Pentandria Monogynia. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., 281. ; Dec. Prod., 3. p. 477. ; Don's Mill., 3. p. 177. 



Synonytncs. Grossularia Town., Gcertn. ; Chrysob6trya, Calobutrya, Coreosma, and Rebes Spach ; 



Groseillsr, Fr. j Johannisbeere, Ger. ; Kruisbes, Dutch j Uva Spina, Hal. ; Grossella, Span. 

 Derivation. The word is from the name of an acid plant mentioned by the Arabian physicians, 



which has been discovered to be the ijheum Ribes; Grossularia is from the Latin grossulus, a 



little unripe fig. 



Description, eye. This genus consists of low deciduous shrubs, two of 

 which (the common currant and gooseberry) are well known in British 

 gardens, for their valuable fruits. \Ve shall here consider all the species of 

 the genus entirely in the light of ornamental shrubs, taking little notice of 

 the varieties cultivated in gardens for their fruit. Many of the sorts here 

 set down as species are, we have no doubt, only varieties ; but, as we are not 

 able to refer these to their aboriginal forms, we have followed the usual autho- 

 rities, and more especially the nomenclature adopted in the Horticultural 

 Society's Garden ; a synopsis of the sorts in which, by Mr. Gordon, will be 

 found at the end of this article. All the species of Ribes strike root readily from 

 cuttings ; and grow freely in any soil that is tolerably dry ; but, as they are 

 only ligneous in a subordinate degree, and are but of a temporary duration 

 under any circumstances, they require to be grown in dry beds or borders, 

 and are, therefore, more fitted for scientific collections or flower-borders, 

 than for general shrubberies, undug arboretums, or lawns. The most showy 

 species are Ribes sanguineum and aureum, and their varieties. R. speciosum, 

 has a singu ! ar fuchsia-like appearance when in blossom ; and R. multiflorum, 

 though the flowers are greenish, is remarkably elegant, on account of 

 the long many-flowered racemes in which they are disposed. The price, 

 in the London nurseries, varies from Is. to 2s. each ; at Bollwyller, from 50 

 cents to 1 franc; and at New York, from 25 cents to half a dollar. The 

 varieties cultivated as fruit trees are much cheaper ; and R. speciosum, which 

 is rather difficult to propagate, and some of the other species, which are new, 

 and as yet rare, are dearer. 



§ i. GrossularicE Ach. Rich. Gooseberries. 



Synonymes. Grosseiller a Maquereau, Fr. ; Stachelbeere Strauch, Ger. ; Kruisbes, Dutch ; Uva 

 Spina, Ital. ; and Grosella, Span. 



Sect. Char., eye. Stems, in most instances, prickly. Leaves plaited. Flowers 

 in racemes, 1, 2, or 3, in a raceme. Calyx more or less bell-shaped. {Dec. 

 Prod., iii. p. 478.) Shrubs with prickles ; and with the leaves and fruit 

 more or less resembling those of the common gooseberry. 



A. Flowers greenish white. 

 St 1. R. oxyacanthoYdes L. The Hawthorn-leaved Gooseberry. 



Identification. Pursh 11. Airier. Sept., 2. p. 165. ; Berlandier in Mem. Soc. Phys. Gen., 3. pars 2. 



p. i&. t. 1. f. 1., not of Michaux. 

 Engraving/t. Mem. Soc. Phys. Gen., 3. pars 2. t. 1. f. 1. ; Dill. Elth., t. 139. p. 166. ; and ourfig. 715. 



Spec. Char.ycyc. Infra-axillary prickles larger, and mostly solitary; smaller 

 prickles scattered here and there. Leaves glabrous, their lobes dentate, their 

 petioles villous, and u little hispid. Peduncles short, bearing 1 — 2 flowers. 

 Jierry globose, glabrous, purplish blue. A native of rocks of Canada. {Dec. 

 Proa., iii. p. 478.) This shrub varies much in the number and colour of 

 its prickles, and its more or less dense ramification and pubescence. The 

 fruit resembles that of the common gooseberry, and is sometimes red, and 



