4 
RIBES SANGUINEUM. 
doubt but the remark of Mr. Douglas, in tlie Transactions of the Horticultural 
Society, vol. vii. part 4, may be perfectly correct — “ That if the bushes were 
planted in soil having a portion of lime rubbish mixed with it, the blossoms would 
be more profuse, and probably of a deeper colour a circumstance he states to have 
observed in the limestone districts of its native woods. 
Previous to the introduction of this species, the R. aureum was the favourite 
of this genus ; it is certainly a pretty shrub, though very far inferior to the R. 
sanguineum. Its very easy culture, thriving in almost any situation, its numerous 
racemes of bright yellow flowers, and the peculiarly pleasant fragrance they emitted 
when in perfection, rendered it a desirable inhabitant of our gardens. In North 
America, its native country, it is highly prized for its fruit, which is said to be of 
an excellent quality, and superior in size to any of our common garden sorts, 
although in this country it rarely, if ever, produces fruit at all. 
The generic name Ribes originated in the supposition that our currant and 
gooseberry were the plants to which the Arabian physicians of the eleventh and 
twelfth centuries gave the name of Ribas , but which has since been discovered to be 
a kind of rhubarb, called Rheum Ribes. The specific name, sanguineum , alludes 
to the colour of the flower, being purple-red or blood-colour. 
