Chapter 191

Wild Currant.Ribes floridum.

Found in blossom in May, on the edge of thickets.

A bush, from 4 to 5 feet high, with a branching, woody stem, covered with a gray bark.

The leaf is lobed after the manner of the currant leaf, with a heart-shaped base, and toothed margin; the veins are numerous, the surface smooth, and the color a fall green. The leaves, on inch-long foot-stems, which widen at the base, and are fringed along the edges with light, weak hairs, grow in small alternate clusters on the branches.

The bell-shaped flower is 5-parted at the top, the divisions rounded and recurved; the small petals are set within the large calyx-bell, alternating with 5 tiny stamens; the color is a pale greenish-yellow. Each flower bell hangs on a short stem, with a narrow leaflet at its foot; from six to ten, or more, bells droop in a cluster, from the angles of the leaves.

The small fruit is black.


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