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larallelis, connatis, turgidis, intòs longitudinaliter dehiscentibus. Pollen
arinaceum, luteum. Ovarium depresso-globosum, undique glandulosum,
uniloculare : disco epigyno carnoso, viridi, nectarifero. S ty li 2, ferè omninò
connati, filiformes, glabri, staminibus paròm prsecellentes, apice tantòm
soluti. Stigmata parva, truncata, pruinosa. Bacca (testante amiciss. D .
Menzies) magnitudine Grossularia hortensìs, sphserica, atrosauguinea, undique
hispidè setosa. D . Don Mss.
lìy far the most showy of this group of Ribes, having the entire habit of
tbe gooseberry, yet vying in the form and brilliancy of its flowers with the
elegant Fuchsia. I t is one o f the many interesting discoveries o f our
venerable and much valued friend Mr. Menzies, who collected speciniens
o f it in California, during the voyage of Vancouver. The plant had also
been gathered about the same time by Sessè and Mocinno, two Spanish
Botanists attached to the expedition for exploring the vegetable riches
of Mexico. To Mr. Collie, T.L .S . Surgeon to H . M. Ship Blossom, in
the late voyage of discovery under Captain T. W . Beechey, we are, however,
indebted for its first introduction to the gardens, and from seeds collected
by him at Monterey in California, a single plant was raised by Mr.
Lambert in 1829. The plant was shortly afterwards placed in the open
ground, where it is found to thrive luxuriantly, it being now a large bush,
five feet in height. I t blossomed for the first time in the beginning o f May
last, and has continued in flower for more than six weeks. Its profusion
of large, crimson, glittering blossoms, contrasted with the bright green,
glossy leaves, form one o f the most beautiful objects imaginable. The trivial
appellation of speciosum given to it by Pursh, must supplant, agreeable
to the regulations established in botanical nomenclature, the more recent
but happier one of stamineum, applied to the species by the late Sir
J . E. Smith. Another and evidently nearly related species, of which specimens
were also collected in the same country by Mr. Menzies, the Ribes
Menziesii of Pursh, ib e fe ro x of Smith, has the flowers five cleft and pen-
tandrous, the stamens not exceeding the calyx in length, and the anthers
terminated by a short point. In R . gracile and hirtellum the flowers are occasionally
four cleft and tetrandrous, and the stamens in the former project
beyond the tubular calyx, and the styles in both are united nearly their
whole length ; so that I am even sceptical as to the claims of R . speciosum
and Menziesii being regarded as constituting a separate section. The
old division of the genus into currants and gooseberries is perhaps, after all,
the most natural. The north-west regions of America abound in showy
species of this genus, the R . aurexim and the more recently introduced
R . sanguineum, the malvaceum of Smith, both belonging to the group of
currants, being also natives of that country. The albnmen is fleshy, not
horny, as stated by Jussieu and D e Candolle, and the embryo is situated
at the apex of the seed close to the chalaza, and is consequently inverted.
The situation of the embryo, the presence of umbilical cords, and the fleshy
arillus enveloping the seeds, as in P unica, are the chief marks which distinguish
the Grossularie^ from the Saxifragea, to which they approach in
the structure of their flower, in their glandular pubescence, and in the insertion
of the leaves. D . Don Mss.
For the derivation of Ribes, see supra fol. 109. series 2.
1. Flower spread open, to show th e 4 segments o f th e ca ly x in which the 4 stamens
are inserted ; 2 o f them b en t round from th e base, and passing up through 2 o f the p e ta ls ;
the 4 petals alternate with the segments o f the calyx, and involute. 2 . Ovarium covered
with glandular hairs on the outside, terminated with a slender red style, and small slightly
forked stigma.
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