RIBES. 



246 



RICINUS. 



They are all quite hardy, and will 

 grow without any trouble being taken 

 with them, in any common garden- 

 soil. The following kinds are those 

 most deserving of cultivation for 

 their flowers : — Ribes niveum, the 

 snowy-flowered gooseberry, has white 

 pendulous flowers, and dark purple 

 fruit, the flavour of which is very 

 agreeable ; R. specibsum, the fuchsia 

 flowered gooseberry, the flowers of 

 which are scarlet, with very long 

 projecting stamens, somewhat resem- 

 bling those of the Fuchsia, and the 

 leaves sub-evergreen ; R. spicatum, 

 the tree currant, which forms an 

 erect fastigiate-growing shrub, six or 

 eight feet high, with upright spikes of 

 red fruit ; R. multiflbrum, a most 

 beautiful plant, with long drooping 

 racemes of greenish flowers, and large 

 handsome leaves ; R. punctatum, an 

 evergreen species, with shining leaves 

 and golden yellow flowers, which are 

 succeeded by red fruit ; R. Jloridum, 

 the flowering black currant, with loose 

 racemes of greenish-yellow flowers, 

 and black fruit ; R. cereum, the 

 wax-leaved currant, the leaves of 

 which are round, and appear thinly 

 covered with white wax ; R. san- 

 guineum, the red-flowered black 

 currant, a beautiful and well known 

 species, of which there are several 

 varieties ; and R. aureum, the 

 yellow-flowered black currant. All 

 these kinds are very beautiful ; but 

 the most ornamental are Ribes san- 

 guineum, and its varieties or allied 

 species, R. glutinbsum, with pale 

 pink flowers, and R. malvaceum,vnt\\ 

 lilac ones, and also the dark red 

 variety R. s. atro-rubens. There 

 are also several kinds of R. aureum, 

 all of which are well deserving of 

 cultivation. All the kinds of Ribes 

 are easily propagated by cuttings ; or 

 by seeds, which most of the kinds 

 ripen in abundance — and one kind, 

 Ribes punctatum, sends up suckers. 



They are generally quite hardy ; but 

 R. punctatum, being a native of 

 Chili, succeeds best against a wall. 

 R. sanguineum, and its allied species, 

 are natives of California, and, like all 

 the plants from that country, they 

 are very liable to die off, if the collar 

 of the root be exposed to the sun. 

 Thus, a fine healthy plant of Ribes 

 sanguineum, several feet high, and 

 covered with flowers, will often wither 

 and die away without any apparent 

 cause ; but if the facts connected with 

 it be closely examined, it will gene- 

 rally be found that the ground in 

 which the plant grows has become 

 quite dry and powdery at the surface, 

 so that the roots have been exposed 

 to sufficient heat to wither them at 

 the point of junction with the collar. 

 This never occurs when the plant is 

 suffered to remain in a state of nature, 

 as it always sends out side-shoots near 

 the ground, so as to shade its root ; 

 but in gardens and shrubberies these 

 side-shoots are frequently trimmed 

 away from a mistaken idea of neat- 

 ness. In its native country, also, 

 the Ribes sanguineum always 

 grows partly in the shade, and near 

 water. The colour of the flowers 

 varies very much according to the 

 soil in which the plant is grown ; the 

 darkest and brightest hues being ob- 

 servable in those plants which are 

 grown in calcareous soils, and the 

 palest and least brilliant in those 

 grown in sandy soils. Ribes aur- 

 eum, the yellow-flowered currant, and 

 its allied species and varieties, succeed 

 best in gravelly soils, and appear in 

 general very hardy. 



Rice. — See Oryza: 



Richardia AroidecB. — Kunth's 



name for Calla cethibpica. For the 

 culture, &c, see Arum. 



Ricinus. — Euphorbiacece. — Pal- 

 ma Christi. The castor-oil plant, 

 Ricinus communis, is a half-hardy 

 annual in this country, worth grow- 



