WILD GOOSEBERRY.
Ribes Menziesii, Pursh. Saxifrage Family.
Shrubs two to six feet high, with naked glandular-bristly or prickly branches and stout triple thorns under the fascicled leaves. Peduncles.—With one or two drooping, Fuchsia-like flowers. Calyx.—Half an inch long; garnet; the five oblong lobes somewhat longer than the tube, but hardly longer than the stamens, which surpass the five white petals with inrolled edges. Styles exserted. Anthers sagittate. Berry.—Four to six lines in diameter; thickly covered with long prickles. (Otherwise as Ribes glutinosum.) Hab.—From San Diego to Humboldt County; also in the Sierras.
The wild gooseberry, considered as a fruit, is very disappointing, as its large, prickly berries are composed mostly of skin and seeds. But as an ornamental shrub it is very pleasing. In February its long, thorny branches are densely clothed with small but rich green leaves, under which hang the perfect little miniature red and white Fuchsias.
A closely allied species—R. subvestitum, Hook. and Arn.,—has long exserted filaments and glandular-prickly berries.