Gooseberry

Rare card · No. 50633

Gooseberry (US and northern UK: GOOSS-berr-ee or GOOZ-berr-ee, southern UK: GUUZ-bər-ee) is a common name for many species of Ribes (which also includes currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance, and also several unrelated plants. The term gooseberry has a debated etymology. The berries of those in the genus Ribes are edible and may be green, orange, red, purple, yellow, white, or black. Black bears, birds, and small mammals eat the berries, while game animals, coyotes, foxes and raccoons browse the foliage. The bushes are hosts to various insect species, including the magpie moth and the comma butterfly. William Turner described the gooseberry in his Herball, written about the middle of the 16th century. Improved varieties were probably first raised by the gardeners of Holland. The gooseberry was more populous in North America before it was discovered that it carries blister rust, deadly to certain pines, resulting in its removal from forest areas. Humans...

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