THE BARBERRY IN IOWA AND ADJACENT STATES 



L. H. PAMMEL 



Of the 160 species of barberry generally recognized only the fol- 

 lowing have been commonly cultivated in Iowa ; the common or 

 European barberry (Bcrhcris vulgaris), the Japanese barberry {B. 

 Thunbergii), the B. canadensis, B. amurensis, B. Sinensis, B. ilici- 

 folia, B. Fischeri and B. macrocarpa. The B. Fischeri and B. 

 macrocarpa are regarded as synonyms of B. canadensis. The com- 

 mon European barberry, though commonly credited to western 

 Europe, is Asiatic according to J. Lind's "The Barberry Bush and 

 its Law," being a translation from Berberisbusken og Berberisloven. 

 Through the kindness of Dr. Humphrey and Dr. Melhus I was fur- 

 nished with the paper by J. Lind in which he makes the following 

 statements : "The original home of the barberry bush is the middle 

 and western Asiatic mountains, where it still grows wild in the 

 Himalayas ; its brightly colored berries attracted the attention of 

 man and it is spoken of as a medicinal plant by the early Babylonian 

 and Hindu writers. On the signs which composed King Sardana- 

 pal's library in Nineveh, B. C. 650, the berries are spoken of as a 

 detersive agent. Later the plant has had the same destiny as so 

 many other Asiatic medicinal plants ; that of being carried from one 

 country to another by man and cultivated as a useful plant until it 

 has been replaced by other mediums. Many of the noxious herbs 

 we have in our land, have, in earlier times been introduced as useful 

 plants, sometimes as a kitchen garden plant, sometimes cultivated in 

 the medicinal gardens of the monasteries and finally lost track of. 

 The barberry bush is not mentioned by the Greek or Roman doctors 

 who are noted for their knowledge of the medicinal quality of herbs 

 from the time of Hippocrates, who lived in southwestern Asia from 

 459 to 2)77 B. C, to the time of Galen, who was the life doctor for 

 the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, 200 A. D. There is therefore 

 cause to believe that the bush was not found north of the Mediter- 

 ranean at that time. It came into use in the seventh century when the 

 Arabians had spread their power over the neighboring states and 

 established a kingdom whose well-organized conditions and blossom- 

 ing culture was unequalled at that time. Medical art was considered 

 very important among the Arabians, and we owe many of the physi- 



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