GOOSEBERRY FAMILY. Grossulariaceae. 
There are many kinds of Ribes, or Currant, of temperate 
regions; shrubs, almost always smooth; flowers sometimes 
blooming before the leaves, with five petals, smaller than 
the five calyx-lobes, which are often colored; stamens five; 
ovary inferior, fruit a smooth, many-seeded berry. In 
general the low shrubs, with their pretty foliage, may be 
recognized by their resemblance to cultivated kinds. 
Ribes is the ancient Arabic name. 
Except that its foliage has a strong dis- 
Black Currant agreeable smell, this is an attractive shrub, 
Rides Hudsoni- 3 i 
Rone three to six feet high, with pale gray, 
White woody stems, without thorns, and smooth, 
Spring, summer bright green leaves, five-lobed and thin in 
oe og texture, paler on the under side, with 
eet resinous dots and broad, papery stipules, 
in clusters, with reddish bracts at the base. The flowers 
form close, erect clusters, less than two inches long, spring- 
ing from the same bud as the leaves; the calyx, which is 
the conspicuous part, cream-white, greenish in the center; 
the petals very small and white. The berry is smooth or 
hairy, round and black, without “bloom,” and possibly 
edible, but so bad-smelling as to be avoided. This grows 
beside mountain streams and is found as far north as 
British Columbia. 
: A thrifty, mountain bush, from three to 
Sierra Currant . 2 
Ribes Nevadénse ‘1X feet high, the upper stems pale gray 
Pink and the lower ones reddish; the leaves 
Summer thin and smooth, prettily scalloped and 
— Oreg., Wash, 1,hed often with a few white hairs at the 
: base of the leaf-stalks. The flowers are 
fragrant and pink, over half an inch long, and form a close 
cluster, of eight or more. The berry is black, with a white 
““bloom,’’ and tastes sweet and insipid. This reaches an 
altitude of eight thousand feet. Ribes glutindsum is 
called Incense-shrub, because of its strong fragrance. It is 
a large handsome shrub, sometimes fifteen feet high, with 
beautiful drooping clusters of gay pink flowers. The 
leaves are sticky when they first come out and the berry 
is blue, with a dense ‘‘bloom,”’ bristly, dry and bitter, or 
insipid. This blooms in winter or early spring and is 
common in canyons near the coast. 
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