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Ribes uva-crispa L.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Ribes uva-crispa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/ribes/ribes-uva-crispa/). Accessed 2025-01-15.

Genus

Common Names

  • Common Gooseberry

Synonyms

  • R. grossularia L.

Glossary

berry
Fleshy indehiscent fruit with seed(s) immersed in pulp.
calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
glandular
Bearing glands.
included
(botanical) Contained within another part or organ.
ovary
Lowest part of the carpel containing the ovules; later developing into the fruit.
style
Generally an elongated structure arising from the ovary bearing the stigma at its tip.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Ribes uva-crispa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/ribes/ribes-uva-crispa/). Accessed 2025-01-15.

Ribes uva-crispa

Gooseberries Ribes uva-crispa in an East Yorkshire garden, June 2023. Image John Grimshaw.

The common gooseberry is found wild in Britain, but is believed to be an escape from gardens. It is a genuine native of most parts of mountainous Europe, and on the Mount Atlas range in N. Africa. In a wild state it is distinguished by its bristly young wood, its downy calyx and hairy ovary, its style downy at the base, and its yellowish or red berry, more or less glandular-hairy. Some cultivated varieties have quite smooth berries.

There is a group of species closely allied to this, composed of deciduous, bushy, spiny shrubs with small green or purplish flowers which have no value in gardens apart from their use as fruit-bearers. They need not be given detailed notice, but may be included here.

R cynosbati L.

Common Names
Dogberry

Native of eastern N. America; introduced in 1759. Its stems are weakly armed or not at all; leaves and leaf-stalks downy; calyx green, bell-shaped with reflexed sepals; petals white; ovary bristly, the bristles not gland-tipped; style downy towards the base; fruit reddish purple, scarcely {1/2} in. in diameter, more or less covered with slender prickles. f. inerme Rehd. has its fruits smooth, not prickly.

R divaricatum Dougl

A native of the coast region of western N. America, of vigorous growth, and up to 10 ft high. Its young wood is armed with single or triple spines up to {2/3} in. long, and is sometimes bristly, usually glabrous. Leaves with appressed hairs above, almost or quite glabrous beneath. Receptacle downy, greenish purple, petals whitish, ovary and berry glabrous, the last globose, {1/3} in. in diameter, black-purple. This species is nearly allied to R. rotundifolium, but is found wild on the opposite side of the continent, and is a bigger bush, well armed with long stout spines.

Ribes uva-crispa R divaricatum

Ribes divaricatum Lime Close Oxfordshire September 2019. Image MC DE LAUBARÈDE.

R oxyacanthoides L

This is widely spread over N. America. It has bristly branches, the leaves are downy, and more or less glandular, the stamens as long as the petals; the berries glabrous, red-purple. R. hirtellum Michx. is very near this species, but has glabrous shoots and stamens twice as long as the petals, which are purplish. Berry glabrous, purplish or black, {1/2} in. across – Bot. Mag., t. 6892. It has borne very good fruit in the Isle of Wight, where it is known as “currant-gooseberry”.

R rotundifolium Michx

A native of the eastern United States, from Massachusetts to N. Carolina. Its solitary spines are small and inconspicuous; young wood and leaves downy, but not glandular or bristly; flowers greenish purple; receptacle and berry glabrous. The fruit is purple and of good flavour.

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