266 



THE BARBERRY. 



position, ready to perform the same movement when 

 again excited. It is a well-known fact that no flower will 

 bear fertile seeds unless some portion of pollen be lodged 

 on the pistil while the latter 

 is in its mature state. In the 

 Barberry, when the flower is 

 expanded, the anthers con- 

 taining the pollen are bent so 

 far away from the stigma or 

 summit of the pistil, that they 

 could scarcely perform their 

 office were they not by some 

 means raised and brought for- 

 ward, and that too in bright, 

 sunny weather. This is just 

 the time when insects are most 

 busily occupied in exploring 

 for food ; and they, in their 

 search after honey, visit the 

 flowers of the Barberry, and 

 cannot fail to touch some one 

 or other of the stamens, which 

 instantaneously springs for- 

 ward from the shelter of its 

 petal, and sheds a portion of the pollen on the pistil. 

 The berries of the Barberry are oblong, and, when ripe, 

 scarlet, and covered with a bloom like that of the plum. 

 They are intensely acid ; so much so as to be refused by 

 birds : they therefore remain a long time on the tree, and 

 when produced in abundance are very ornamental. At 

 Chamounix, and elsewhere in Switzerland, the bases of the 

 mountains are in many places tinged of a red hue by the 

 berries, so numerous are the trees and so prolific. 



The inner bark and wood are bitter and astringent, 

 and of a bright yellow colour, which may be extracted, 

 and furnishes good dye. The leaves are acid, but are not 

 now applied to any use. The berries, preserved in various 



FLOWERS AND FRUIT OF THE 

 BARBERRY. 



