gooseberry

gooseberry
/goohs"ber'ee, -beuh ree, goohz"-/, n., pl. gooseberries.
1. the edible, acid, globular, sometimes spiny fruit of certain prickly shrubs belonging to the genus Ribes, of the saxifrage family, esp. R. uva-crispa (or R. grossularia).
2. a shrub bearing this fruit.
[1525-35; GOOSE + BERRY]

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Hardy fruit bush of the Northern Hemisphere, often placed in the genus Ribes with the currant (or alternatively assigned to the genus Grossularia as its sole member), in the family Saxifragaceae.

The spiny bushes bear clusters of greenish to greenish-pink flowers. The tart, oval berries may be prickly, hairy, or smooth. They are eaten ripe and often made into jellies, preserves, pies and other desserts, or wine. Because gooseberry is an alternate host for white-pine blister rust, growing it is illegal in some states where white pine is an important resource.

Gooseberry (Ribes)

Derek Fell

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shrub
 fruit bush of the Northern Hemisphere, frequently placed in the genus Ribes, along with the currant, in the family Saxifragaceae; some taxonomic systems assign exclusively to the gooseberry the generic name Grossularia. Gooseberry bushes are spiny and produce greenish to greenish-pink flowers in clusters of two or three. The oval berries are white, red, yellow, or green with a prickly, hairy, or smooth surface.

      Gooseberries are extremely hardy and are grown almost as far north as the Arctic Circle. They thrive in moist, heavy clay soil in cool, humid climate. Good foliage is needed to protect the berries from the Sun. The gooseberry can withstand neglect but responds readily to good care, including potash or manure fertilizer, heavy pruning, and dormant spray to control scale and mildew. New plants are grown from cuttings.

      The bushes bear well for 10 to 20 years. Two- to three-year-old spurs produce the best berries. The tart fruit is eaten ripe and often made into jellies, preserves, pies, and other desserts or wine. Hundreds of varieties are grown in northern Europe, many interplanted in fruit orchards. English gooseberries (R. uva-crispa), popularly called grossularia, are native to the Old World and have long been cultivated for fruit. In Europe the large-fruited cultivated gooseberries became naturalized. Grossularia do not prosper in the United States, because they are susceptible to mildews and rusts. Because they provide an alternate host for the white-pine blister rust, it is illegal to grow grossularia in some states where white pine is an important resource. The most useful native North American species is the smooth gooseberry Ribes hirtellum, found wild across the United States; improved varieties are widely cultivated.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Gooseberry — Goose ber*ry, n.; pl. {Gooseberries}, [Corrupted for groseberry or groiseberry, fr. OF. groisele, F. groseille, of German origin; cf. G. krausbeere, kr[ a]uselbeere (fr. kraus crisp), D. kruisbes, kruisbezie (as if crossberry, fr. kruis cross;… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • gooseberry — 1530s, perhaps from Ger. Krausebeere or Kräuselbeere, related to M.Du. croesel gooseberry, and to Ger. kraus crispy, curly [Klein, etc.]. Under this theory, gooseberry would be folk etymology. But OED editors find no reason to prefer this to a… …   Etymology dictionary

  • gooseberry — [go͞os′ber΄ē, go͞os′bə rē; go͞oz′ber΄ē, go͞oz′bə rē] n. pl. gooseberries [as if < GOOSE + BERRY, but prob. folk etym. form for * grose berie, akin to dial. grosel, gooseberry (< Fr groseille), Du kruisbezie, Ger krausbeere] 1. a small, sour …   English World dictionary

  • gooseberry — ► NOUN (pl. gooseberries) 1) a round edible yellowish green berry with a hairy skin, growing on a thorny shrub. 2) Brit. informal a third person in the company of two lovers, who would prefer to be alone. ORIGIN the first element perhaps from… …   English terms dictionary

  • Gooseberry — Taxobox name = Gooseberry image width = 250px image caption = Cultivated Eurasian gooseberry regnum = Plantae divisio = Magnoliophyta classis = Magnoliopsida ordo = Saxifragales familia = Grossulariaceae genus = Ribes species = R. uva crispa… …   Wikipedia

  • gooseberry — [16] Probably, when all is said and done, gooseberry is simply a compound of goose and berry. But no one has ever been able to explain satisfactorily why the gooseberry should have been named after the goose, and there has been no lack of… …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • gooseberry — [16] Probably, when all is said and done, gooseberry is simply a compound of goose and berry. But no one has ever been able to explain satisfactorily why the gooseberry should have been named after the goose, and there has been no lack of… …   Word origins

  • gooseberry — UK [ˈɡʊzb(ə)rɪ] / US [ˈɡusˌberɪ] noun [countable] Word forms gooseberry : singular gooseberry plural gooseberries a small green fruit with a sour taste that grows on a bush and can be cooked to make sweet foods gooseberry pie/crumble/jam • be a… …   English dictionary

  • gooseberry — noun a) A fruit closely related to the currant. We had a good haul of gooseberries from our tree this year. b) Any of several other unrelated fruits, such as the Chinese gooseberry (kiwifruit) and the Indian gooseberry (amla). Robert and Susan… …   Wiktionary

  • gooseberry — paprastasis agrastas statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Agrastinių šeimos maistinis, vaisinis, vaistinis augalas (Ribes uva crispa), paplitęs šiaurės Afrikoje ir vidurio Europoje. atitikmenys: lot. Grossularia reclinata; Ribes grossularia;… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

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