Berberis Barberry. 113 



well-drained soil. In many sections the farmers believe 

 that the presence of either of these barberries causes rust 

 in wheat and perhaps other growing crops, as the under 

 side of the leaves is often of a brown or rusty color. 

 But it is known that rust is largely a fungous growth, 

 and that the fungus is of such a different character that 

 the disease, even when existing in the same vicinage, 

 could not have been transferred from one to the other. 

 There is probably, therefore, no good reason for the 

 widespread prejudice among the agriculturists against 

 these plants. 



The box-leaved barberry, B. buxifolia, is so named 

 from the resemblance of its foliage to the common box 

 famous in old-fashioned gardens. It is also known as 

 the sweet-fruited barberry, B. dulcis, and some have sup- 

 posed that the two names designated distinct species, but 

 this is not the fact. This shrub comes from the Straits 

 of Magellan, and is counted an evergreen, though in very 

 cold climates it is not strictly such. The leaves are 

 oblong, smooth, and glossy, without hairs or spines, and 

 about half an inch in length, with very short footstalks. 

 The cup-shaped, amber-yellow flowers appear very early, 

 almost before the winter is past, and are borne on slen- 

 der, pendulous stalks in great abundance, and followed 

 by dark-colored fruit. Under favorable circumstances 

 the shrub grows to the height of six to eight feet. Dar- 

 win's barberry, B. darwinii, grows but about two feet, and 

 produces an abundance of orange-colored flowers in May, 

 and sometimes again in autumn. The deep purple ber- 

 ries are oblong and about an inch in length, and armed 



