ORDER XCIV.—GROSSULARIEÆ.—THE GOOSEBERRY TRIBE.
Fig. 136.—The Gooseberry. (Ribes Grossularia).
This order consists of only one genus (Ribes), which includes all the Gooseberries and Currants; the two kinds forming two distinct sections. The first section, which embraces all the Gooseberries, has prickly stems, and the flowers are produced singly, or in clusters of not more than two or three together. The flower of the common Gooseberry (Ribes Grossularia) consists principally of the calyx (a in fig. 136), the five segments of the limb of which are turned back, and coloured of a reddish-brown. The petals (b) are white and erect, and bearded at the throat; but they are so small and inconspicuous, that few people would notice them if they were not pointed out. The stamens (c) are five in number, and erect, and the anthers burst lengthways on the inside. The ovary (d) is below the cup of the calyx, and the style, which is cloven to the base (e), is always covered with hairs in the common Gooseberry (R. Grossularia), and is more or less hairy in the other species. There are two little bracteoles (f) on the pedicel; and a large bract, deeply cut, at the point from which the pedicel springs (g). The leaves, which are omitted in the engraving, also grow from the same bud, and are three or five lobed, and hairy; and there are three spines just below them. The fruit is a many-seeded berry, with the seeds immersed in pulp; and on cutting open an unripe fruit, it will be found that the seeds are each inclosed in an aril, with a separate footstalk, by which they are attached to a membrane lining the sides of the berry, and which is called a parietal placenta. The segments of the calyx remain on the ripe fruit. Several of the ornamental species of Ribes belong to this division, as, for example, R. triflorum, which has white flowers; and R. speciosum, which has crimson flowers, with the segments of the calyx not reflexed, and long projecting stamens like those of the Fuchsia. The fruit and the whole of the stems and branches of this species are covered with spines, and thus the plant is easily distinguished from the common gooseberry, the stem of which has no spines, except three just below each bud.
Fig. 137.—The Red Currant.
The Currants are distinguished by the stems being entirely without spines, and the flowers being produced in racemes. The leaves are cordate, and bluntly three or five lobed, a little downy beneath, but smooth above. The flowers of the Red Currant (Ribes rubrum) are numerous, and they are produced in drooping racemes, with a little bracteole at the base of each footstalk (see a in fig. 137). The calyx is flattish, with the segments (b), which are of a pale greenish colour, spreading widely, and not recurved. The anthers (c) are loosely attached to the filaments, and they burst sideways and across. The style (d) is short, and divided into two spreading stigmas at the apex. The fruit is smooth and transparent, with many seeds, and it retains the remains of the calyx (e) when ripe. The white, and the striped or flesh -coloured Currants, are varieties of R. rubrum. The Black Currant (R. nigrum) has a more compact, and campanulate flower (see a in fig. 138), with the segments of the calyx reflexed; the anthers (b) are more firmly attached to the filament; the style (c) is not cleft, and the stigma is two-lobed and capitate. The fruit (d) has a thick opaque skin, and the eye of the calyx is larger; the leaves are also covered on the under surface with glands or cells, filled with a fragrant oil formed by the limb, as shown at (e), which represents the appearance of the leaf when held up to the light. There is often a solitary flower on a separate pedicel, at the foot of the raceme; and there are frequently ten stamens instead of five, and no petals, the petals having been changed into stamens—a metamorphose the reverse of that which generally takes place.