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.
[Sidenote: =Black Currant=
_Rìbes Hudsoniànum_
=White
Spring, summer
Utah, Wash., Idaho, etc.=]
Except that its foliage has a strong disagreeable smell, this is an
attractive shrub, three to six feet high, with pale gray, woody stems,
without thorns, and smooth, bright green leaves, five-lobed and thin in
texture, paler on the under side, with 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, springing 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.
[Sidenote: =Sierra Currant=
_Rìbes Nevadénse_
=Pink
Summer
Cal., Oreg., Wash., Nev.=]
A thrifty, mountain bush, from three to six feet high, the upper stems
pale gray and the lower ones reddish; the leaves thin and smooth,
prettily scalloped and lobed, 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. _Rìbes glutinòsum_ 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.
[Illustration: Sierra Currant--Ribes Nevadense.