THE SWAZEY BARBERRY 



F. T. R 



A us tin , 



1WAS 1)0111 in 1S61 near the cd^o of 

 the "had" Indian countn', fifty 

 niik's nortli of Austin, Texas. At 

 that time one could not ^o to a store 

 and buy ilower seed. But mother, on 

 that sixirseK' settled, lonesome prairie, 

 wanted flowers. The only ones to be 

 had were the native wild annuals, 

 perennials, and shrubs. I have inher- 

 ited from my mother the joy she had 

 in gathering those shrubs to beautify 

 the grounds of her first home. 



How much easier it is for one to 

 appreciate the \'alue of a plant or 

 shrub from a foreign country, whether 

 recommended for ornament or eco- 

 nomic use, than it is to see these quali- 

 ties in native plants growing wild 

 around you that haAe never received 

 any aid in combatting the robbing 

 roots or the smothering shade of 

 other trees, or the drouths and freezes 

 anfl floods that come in irregular 

 attacks. 



It often takes real effort to see refine- 

 ment and beauty in a plant that you 

 know is hardly beyond description, 

 one that can be called climate-proof. 

 This means uKjre to a person li\ing in 

 an arid western einironment than in 

 the more humid Ivist. 



A line drawn north and south 

 through Central Texas, passing through 

 Austin, is generally considered to be 

 where the arid and humid sections 

 meet. A great number of shrubs not 

 found elsewhere appear along this line 

 and westward; while west of San 

 Antonio is nearly desert, it has been 

 said that between the Colorado and 

 the Rio C.rande rivers there can be 

 found more kinds of plants and shrubs 

 than in any f)ther equal area. A lot 

 of these plants bear what is called the 

 trade-mark of West Texas — thorns. 



There are a hundred sorts of wild 

 shrubs that can be used to make one's 

 home grounds beautiful, comfortable 

 and valuable. There are leagues of 

 barbirries with countless variations 



.\MSEY 

 Texas 



in their leaves and fruits. The Mexi- 

 cans and ninety-nine per cent of other 

 residents call them "Agaritas," while 

 some people call them "Chaparral," a 

 name which in different sections is 

 applied to a dozen different shrubs — 

 by some people to any shrub that is 

 armed or prickly. 



Few persons who have lived a life- 

 time in the ran^c oi Berberis trifoliolata, 

 the three leaved barberry, have noticed 

 that, in going toward the center of its 

 wide range, they may find here and 

 there a bush with five or more leaflets 

 called Berberis Sivazeyi. Coulter's 

 Botany of West Texas says some of 

 these plants have from five to nine 

 leaflets. The accompanying photo- 

 graph shows them with five, seven, 

 nine, eleven, and thirteen leaflets, 

 and we found one with seventeen. 



The colors of the leaves are as varied 

 as their shapes. .Some ar6 dark green 

 above and silvery underneath, while 

 the next bush may hiive these colors 

 somewhat reversed. One will seem 

 to imitate the silver or whiteness of 

 "the old man's beard" on one side 

 while on the other you may find one 

 of a dozen shades of dark green or pea 

 green, and so intense is the shade that 

 they seem liquid in appearance. In 

 spite of these differences when planted 

 in a hedge and sheared they harmonize 

 beautifully. They grow on any soil, 

 and a sudden drop to zero temperature 

 has no effect on them. I ha\e never 

 seen one dead from cold or drouth. 



Whether or not all plants that have 

 more than three leaflets should be called 

 .Swazeyi is a question for the botanists 

 to settle, but the size and lateness of 

 the fruit and the more upright growth 

 of the bush distinctK- .separate this 

 type from triJoUokUa. 



The .Swazeyi Ijerries of Berberis 

 Su'dzeyi have scarcely begun to ripen 

 when the last berry has ripened and 

 fallen from the B. trifoliolata, which 



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