THALAMIFLOR.E 'j^ 



The Barberry is in flower in May and June, and is 

 a herbaceous shrub, which grows to a height of four 

 to eight feet. 



The mode of pollination is interesting. The Bar- 

 berry forms a good instance of a British wild flower, 

 in which the stamens are sensitive and explode in 

 contact with an intruding object, e. g. an insect. 



Directly they are touched they shower the head of 

 an insect with pollen, and if it goes to another flower 

 this naturally leads to cross-pollination. The anthers 

 are ripe first, and open by flaps opening upwards. The 

 flowers contain honey in twelve orange honey-glands 

 at the base of the petals, which are in alternate whorls. 

 At first the stamens lie close to the petals nearly at 

 right angles to the pistil, which is mono-carpellary, 

 with two ovules, with a straight embryo. The 

 stigma is covered with papillae. The insect when 

 hit by the recoiling stamens is apt to be driven away, 

 and thus the pollen is at once carried away to be 

 transferred probably to a fresh flower. 



Bees, wasps, flies, and beetles are the chief honey- 

 seekers. 



The fruit is juicy, red, and attractive to birds, and 

 thus the seeds are liable to be disseminated to a 

 distance. The seed coat is hard, and the endosperm 

 within the seed is also hard, preventing its digestion. 



Another name is Pipperidge (French pepin, a pipe, 

 rouge, red). The shrub was called Appendix by 

 Pliny, from the drooping berries. 



Formerly, in days of superstition by ''doctrine of 



