DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF FLOWERING SHRUBS. 401 



BERBEBJS. BARBERRY OR BERBERRY. 



[Derived from the Arabic name for this plant.] 



Vlllgaris. Common Barberry. This shrub is 

 too common about Boston; but where it is not found 

 growing in such profusion, it will most assuredly be con- 

 sidered a valuable acquisition to the shrubbery. It has 

 often been said, and generally believed, that Barberry 

 bushes were prejudicial to rye, causing it to blast ; but 

 this is not our experience, having grown heavy crops of 

 this grain with Barberry bushes on all sides of the field. 

 Loudon says : "J3. vulgaris is at once an ornamental 

 shrub, a fruit tree, a hedge plant, a dye, a drug, and a re- 

 puted enemy to the corn farmer. When covered with 

 flowers in the spring, or with fruit in autumn, it is a fine 

 object. Every one, who is an observer of nature, must 

 have been struck, in May or June, with the beauty of 

 the upper arching shoots of the Barberry, springing from 

 a mass of rich green, and sustaining numerous pendant 

 racemes of splendid yellow flowers. It is hardly less at. 

 tractive when its blossoms have been succeeded by the 

 cluster of scarlet fruit in autumn." The leaves are of a 

 blueish-green, and gratefully acid to the taste. The smell 

 of the flower is offensive when near, but pleasant at a cer- 

 tain distance. The berries are so very acid, that birds 

 seldom touch them. They are sometimes pickled and 

 used for garnishing dishes, or when boiled with sugar, 

 form a most agreeable jelly. The roots boiled in lye, 

 yield a yellow color. There is a variety or species with 

 purple foliage, which is desirable in large collections. 



B dulcis, Sweet-fruited Barberry, is more dwarf in 

 habit, the foliage more delicate, and almost evergreen ; 

 the flowers dark orange, scattered along the branches, 

 among the foliage. It is a pretty plant, but I have 

 found that it is not perfectly hardy here ; but in England, 



