Ribes henryi Franch.

An evergreen shrub 3 to 4 ft high; young shoots glandular-bristly. Leaves tufted at the end of the shoots, obovate or diamond-shaped, tapering more or less equally towards both ends or more abruptly towards the apex, sharply pointed, finely and irregularly toothed, the teeth gland-tipped, with tiny bristles between them, 2 to 4 in. long, 1 to 21⁄4 in. wide, glabrous, yellowish green above with conspicuous sunken veins in about five pairs, lower surface pale, with short stiff hairs on the midrib and veins, between which the blade is thickly sprinkled with minute sticky glands; stalk 1⁄4 in. or less long, glandular-bristly. Flowers unisexual, borne on separate plants, greenish yellow, produced early in the year along with new shoots in racemes 1 to 2 in. long, surrounded at the base by a cluster of pale green, membranous bracts; main and secondary flower-stalks clothed with glandular hairs, giving them a mossy appearance as seen under the lens. Fruits narrowly oval, 1⁄2 in. long, glandular-hairy.

Native of Central China; introduced (apparently inadvertently) by Wilson in 1908. A plant which came up in a sowing of seeds of Sinowilsonia henryi at the Edinburgh Botanic Garden proved to be this species. It is closely akin to R. laurifolium and, like it, flowers in February and March, but the glabrous leaf-blades of that species easily distinguish it. The moss-like down of R. henryi is also much longer and more conspicuous. This currant is quite hardy.