CHAP. LV. GROSSULA'cE^. RfBES. 977 



§ iii. Ribesia Dec. Currants. 



Synonymes. Rlbes sp. Lin. and others ; Calobotrya, Coreosma, and llebis Spach ; Groseilles en 

 Grappes, or Grosseiller commun, Fr. ; Johannisbeere, Ger. ; Bessenboom, Dutch. 



Sect. Char. Shrubs unarmed. Racemes, for the most part, many-flowered. 

 Leaves plicate. Calyx campanulate or cylindrical. {Don's Mill., iii. p. 185.) 

 Shrubs, the branches of which are without prickles, and the leaves and 

 fruit of which resemble those of the currant more than those of the goose- 

 berry. 



A. Flowers greenish, or greenish yellow, or reddish ; and Fruit, in a wild 

 State, red. 



* 17. R. ru v brum L. The common red Currant. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 290. ; Dec. Prod., 3. p. 481. ; Don's Mill., a p. 187. ; Lodd. Cat. ed. 1836. 

 Synonymes. R. vulgare N. Du Ham. ; Grosseiller commun, Fr. ; gemeine Johannisbeere, Ger. ; 



Roode Aallessen Boom, Dutch. 

 Engravings. Woodv. Med. Bot.,t. 74.; Fl. Dan., 967. ; Blackw. Herb., t. 285.; Smith Engl. Bot., 



1. 1289. ; Krauss, t. 48. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves cordate, bluntly 3 — 5-lobed, pubescent beneath, 

 when young, usually rather tomentose, glabrous above. Racemes drooping. 

 Bracteas ovate, shorter than the pedicels. Calyx flatly campanulate, 

 spreading. Sepals obtuse. Petals obcordate. Fruit quite glabrous. Flowers 

 yellowish. (Don's Mill., iii. p. 187.) Native of Europe and Siberia, in 

 woods ; and throughout Canada to the mouth of the Mackenzie ; found in 

 mountainous woods, especially in the north of England and in Scotland, 

 about the banks of rivers ; undoubtedly wild on the banks of the Tees ; in 

 the Isle of Isla, and in Culross woods, Scotland. A shrub, growing 

 from 4 ft. to 6 ft. high, and flowering in April and May. 

 Varieties. De Candolle gives the following forms of this species : — 



sfc R. r. 1 sylvestre Dec. Fl. Fr., iv. p. 406. — Leaves and berries small. 



Lobes of leaves short. 

 & R. r. 2 hortense Dec, 1. c. ; R. rubrum Lois. Nouv. Diet., iii. — Leaves 

 large, sometimes variegated. Berries sweeter and larger than in 

 var. 1. Cultivated in gardens. 

 *fe R. r. 3 cdrneum Berl. MSS. ex Dec. Prod., iii. p. 481.; R. rubrum 

 domesticum 2 baccis carneis Walk. Sched., p. 106. — Leaves rather 

 tomentose beneath. Sepals red. Cells of anthers distant. Berries 

 pale red. 

 & R. r. 4 variegdtum Dec. Prod., iii. p. 481., Wallr., 1. c, has the berries 

 beautifully variegated ; or, rather, distinctly striped with white and 

 red. In cultivation in Austria, and well deserving of a place in 

 every collection, from the beauty and singularity of its fruit. 

 & R. r. 5 album Desf. Cat. Bot., p. 164., Ait. Hort. Kew., ii. p. 40., Wallr. 



Sched., p. 106., Berl., 1. c, t. 2. f. 15. — Berries white. 

 & R. r. Qfbliis lideo variegdtis Du Ham. has the leaves variegated with 



yellow, and the fruit red. 



& R. r. 7 foliis dlbo variegdtis Du Ham. has the leaves variegated with 



white, and the fruit white. 



Description. The common red currant, in a wild state, like all plants the 



seeds of which are of easy dissemination by birds, varies exceedingly in habit 



and magnitude, according to the soil, elevation, and latitude in which it 



happens to spring up. On mountains, among rocks, it is scarcely a foot high, 



with finely cut leaves; and is known by botanists under the name of R. alpinum 



pumilum. (See^g.726. p. 979.) In more favourable situations, it forms a ligneous 



fastigiate bush 5 ft. or 6 ft. high, under the form of R. spicatum (see j%.728. in 



p. 980.) ; and, cultivated in gardens, it becomes a spreading bush, with vigorous 



shoots, and leaves twice the size of those it produces in a wild state. The 



common red currant is commonly treated by botanists as a distinct species ; 



but we have no doubt whatever that R. petraeHim, R. spicatum, R. alpinum, 



3t 2 



