BARBERRIES, 



191 



nary seedless varieties (sucli as bananas, navel oranges, and tlie 

 tiny seedless grapes sold as dried " currants ") only on the suppo- 

 sition that in the latter also there had been a loss of vigor through 

 long-continued non- sexual propagation. 



The agreeable tartness of the barberry fruit, which makes it 

 so generally and so highly esteemed, is due to the 'presence of 

 malic acid, a substance found also in the foli- 

 age. Besides being made into preserves and 

 jellies, the ripe fruit is candied or may be 

 dried like raisins. AVhile yet green the ber- 

 ries are sometimes pickled as a substitute for 

 capers. Barberry preserve is, moreover, often 

 used as the basis of a refreshing summer drink 

 a sort of " barberryade." Finally, it is re- 

 ported that in our Western States the fruit of 

 Berheris aquifoUum and certain other native 

 species is made to yield upon fermentation an 

 agreeable wine. 



But, for all their attractiveness to us, the 

 berries seem to be less in favor with birds than 

 are many fruits which we care nothing for. 

 So long as the more succulent or less acid 

 fruits are to be obtained, birds visit the bar- 

 berry but little. When winter comes, how- 

 ever, they are glad enough to profit by the 

 barberry's offer of something to eat, and the bright scarlet clusters 

 do not dangle in vain. 



Kerner fed certain thrushes with barberries, and found that the 

 resistant seeds not only passed unharmed through the digestive 

 tract, but their power of germination was improved, as shown by 

 comparing them with seeds which had not been eaten. Add to 

 this advantage the long distances which birds are likely to carry 

 the seeds they eat, and the likelihood of their depositing them in 

 most favorable situations, and it will at once be apparent how 

 much superior to other methods is this mode of dissemination. 



There can be little doubt that in the primitive ancestors of the 

 barberry family the fruits were dry capsules which depended upon 

 the wind to distribute their numerous seeds, as is the case to-day 

 in the majority of herbaceous Berberidacecz. That is to say, if 

 we suppose the six pistils of the primitive berberidaceous flower 

 (see Fig. 17) to have ripened into as many capsules, we shall have 

 a form of fruit from which not improbably may have been derived 

 all the different forms of fruit exhibited in modern representatives 

 of the family. Confining our attention to the line which culmi- 

 nates in the barberry, it will be seen that the supposition of such 

 a fruit's having descended from the x^rimitive form above men- 



Fio. 20. Berberis vul- 

 garis. Vertical sec- 

 tion of berry, showing 

 two seeds, each con- 

 taining copious re- 

 serve food and a long, 

 well - developed em- 

 bryo. 



