_Gooseberry Family_
Shrubs, usually with lobed, petioled leaves and racemose or
subsolitary axillary or lateral flowers, the pedicels bracteolate;
calyx tube attached to the ovary, the limb 4—5-lobed, often coloured;
petals, 4—5, inserted on the throat of the calyx, small, scale-like,
often included; stamens 4—5, inserted with the petals; berry globose or
ovoid, pulpy, the calyx persistent on its summit.
[Sidenote: =Ribes lacustre= (Pers.) Poir. _Swamp Gooseberry._]
Stems prostrate or ascending, 3—4 feet long, very prickly when young,
spines slender and weak, generally clustered. Leaves nearly orbicular,
thin, smooth or hairy along the veins beneath, deeply 5—7 lobed, 1—2
inches broad, the lobes acutish, incised-dentate. Flowers in racemes of
5—9; calyx rotate, ⅙ of an inch broad, spreading, green or purplish;
petals exceeding the calyx; ovary glandular-hispid; berry black.
A very abundant gooseberry throughout the region in cool damp woods and
bogs at the lower elevations; flowering in June.
[Sidenote: =Ribes setosum= Lindl. _Bristly Gooseberry._]
Stems erect, 3—4 feet high, with numerous stout bristles, especially
on the young wood; axillary spines 1—3 together, rather stout and
spreading. Leaves slender-petioled, more or less finely hairy, at least
when young, ½—1 inch wide, broadly ovate or orbicular, 3—5-lobed, the
lobes incised or coarsely toothed. Flowers 2—3, ¼—½ an inch long on
very short pedicels; calyx tube cylindric, greenish-white or pinkish;
petals white; berries small, purple or blue and very sour.
Frequent throughout the Rockies on lake shores and in thickets at the
lower altitudes; flowering in June.
[Sidenote: =Ribes oxyacanthoides= L. _Northern Gooseberry._]
Spines generally solitary, light-coloured, ¼—½ of an inch long;
prickles commonly wanting. Leaves petioled, roundish, subcordate and
5-lobed, hairy or nearly smooth, the lobes deeply toothed or crenate.
Flowers greenish-purple or white, little more than ¼ of an inch long;
berry half an inch in diameter, smooth, reddish-purple and sweet when
ripe.
Throughout the Rockies at the lower elevations, in open ground and on
stony hillsides; flowering in June; fruit ripening in July.
[Sidenote: =Ribes Howellii= Greene. _Howell’s Currant._]
Stems ascending, crowded, 2—5 feet high, without spines. Leaves
triangular, 2—3 inches in diameter, cordate at the base, deeply
5-lobed, the acute lobes doubly serrate, smooth above, often
resinous-dotted beneath, petiole as long as or longer than the
blade. Flowers ⅓ of an inch broad in a loose raceme, bracts linear,
about ¹/₁₆ of an inch long, much shorter than the slender, glandular
pedicels; calyx rotate with broad spatulate lobes; petals red, narrowly
spatulate, shorter than the calyx lobes; berries red.
A rather showy plant with a pungent, skunk-like odour when bruised,
growing on wet, shaded rocks and in springy places throughout the
region, at the lower altitudes; flowering in June.