BERBERIS. 



BKRBERIS. 



443 



of plants belonging to the class of Exogens or Dicotyledons. It 

 is readily known by three characters : 1, Its anthers open by 

 reflexed valves ; that is to say, the face of each cell of the anther peels 

 off except at the point, where it adheres as if it were hinged there. 

 2, Its stamens are opposite the petals. 3, Its flowers are usually 

 formed upon a ternary plan, there being three or six sepals, and a like 

 number of petals and of stamens. This last character is more liable 

 to exception than the two others. The remarkable structure of the 

 anther is found in no European plants except Berberidacece and the 

 Laurel Tribe [LAUHACE.*:] ; and as the latter has neither petals nor a 

 ternary arrangement of the parts of the flower, it can never be mistaken 

 for these. The relations of this order are with Fitmariacetp, Vitacete, and 

 Kanunculaceie. The present order consists of bushes or herbs, extremely 

 dissimilar to each other in appearance, inhabiting the cooler parts of 

 the world, being unknown hi the tropics except on the tops of lofty 

 mountain*. They are not met with in Africa or the South Sea Islands. 

 Their juice usually stains yellow, and their bark or stems if not woody 

 are bitter and slightly astringent. The bitter leaves of /.'/</</ /'/// 

 alpinum are said to be sudorific. The seeds of Oaulophylum Tlialic- 

 I have been employed as a substitute for coffee. The leaves of 

 Bour/ardia chrysoyonum are eaten in the East like sorrel. The tubers 

 of B. Rauwolfii are eaten in Persia. Leontice Levntopetalum contains 

 in its roots a sufficient quantity of alkali to render it a substitute for 

 soap in Aleppo. 



Common Barberry (Rcrbcrit vulgarU). 



1, An expanded flower ; 2, the calyx without the petals; 3, a petal, with 

 a stamen in front of it ; 4, a stamen by itself, with the Calves of its anther 

 n Maxell ; 5, an ovary cut through, showing the position of the ovules ; li, a 

 ripe teed ; 7, a section of the latter, showing that the embryo lies in albumen ; 

 8, an embryo separated from the seed. 



l.K'RBERIS, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order Ber- 

 beridacecf, among which it is immediately known by its shrubby habit, 

 berried fruit, and the presence of glands upon its petals. It is also 

 remarkable for the irritability of its stamen.*, which, when the filament 

 in touched on the inside with the point of a pin or any other hard 

 instrument, bend forward towards the pistil, touch the stigma with 

 \ the anther, remain curved for a short time, and then partially recover 



\ their erect position : this is best seen in warm dry weather. After 

 \ heavy rain the phenomenon can scarcely be observed, owing, in all 

 probability to the springs of the filaments having been already set in 

 \ motion by the dashing of the rain upon them, or to the flowers having 

 \ been forcibly struck against each other. This irritability of the fila- 

 \ ment is affected differently by different noxious substances. It has 

 \been found by Messrs. Macaire and Marcet, that if you poison a Bar- 

 fcerry with any corrosive agent, such as arsenic or corrosive sublimate, 

 fee filaments become rigid and brittle, and lose their irritability ; 

 while, on the other hand, if the poisoning be effected by any narcotic, 

 mnjh aa pnissic acid, opium, or belladonna, the mutability is destroyed 

 byVthe filaments becoming so relaxed and flaccid that they can be 

 easily bent in any direction. This property is also lost under the 

 influence of the vapour of ether and chloroform. This motion seems 

 to defend on the name proi>urty which gives to the free cells of the 

 lower plant* BO great a power of motion 



The species of this genus are interesting both for their utility and 

 beauty. The value of the bark and root of the Common Barberry for 

 dyeing leather and linen of a yellow colour is well known. Dr. Royle 

 has shown that this property exists in the species of India, especially 

 in Berberis aristata ; and it has been ascertained by Vauquelin that a 

 plant found on the Nilgherries of Hindustan (B. tinctoria) is inferior to 

 few woods for dyeing yellow. The acid quality of the fruit has rendered 

 all the species more or less esteemed; that of B. aristata and./?. Nepaleiisis 

 is dried by the mountaineers of India as raisins, and sent to the plains 

 for sale. The bitterness and astringency of the bark has caused them 

 to be received into the list of useful medicinal plants ; and it has 

 been ascertained by Dr. Royle that the \VKU>V IvSucov (Lycium Indi- 

 cum) of Dioscorides, concerning which so much doubt has always 

 existed, was an Indian species of Barberry now called Berberit Lyrium. 

 (Royle's ' Illustrations of the Botany of the Himalayan Mountains," &c. 

 p. 63.) 



The species of Berberls are obviously divided into two great groups, 

 of which the first has undivided leaves like the Common Barberry, 

 and the others are pinnated, after the manner of the leaf of an ash- 

 tree. Botanists call the latter Mahouias. Ash-Barberry may be taken 

 as their English designation. 



Section I. Leaves simple. TRUE BARBERRIES. 



1. Leaves thin, deciduous; Flowers solitary. 



B. Sibirica, Siberian Barberry. Leaves obovate, obtuse, deeply and 

 irregularly toothed ; flowers solitary, shorter than the leaves ; spines 

 deeply divided into from three to seven shining partitions. A small 

 shrub found on exposed rocks on the hills and lower mountains of 

 Altaic Siberia, where it is very common. The berries are, according 

 to Pallas, obovate, and of a red colour. This species does not thrive 

 in England, but ia always a scrubby bush of inelegant appearance. 



2. Leaves thin, mostly deciduous ; Flowers in racem.es. 



B. Cretica, Candiau Barberry. Spines in three or more divisions ; 

 leaves small, obovate, acute, nearly free from toothings ; flowers in 

 very short compact racemes. Not uncommon on the mountains of 

 Candia and Greece, whence it has been brought to our gardens. It is 

 a dwarf scrubby bush, looking like a starved specimen of the Common 

 Barberry. Its berries are said to be black, ovate, 2-seeded, and austere 

 rather than acid. 



B. rulijaris, Common Barberry. Spines in three deep divisions ; 

 leaves obovate, with fine spiny toothings ; flowers in drooping racemes, 

 which are longer than the leaves. This common species appears to 

 inhabit equally the north of Europe, Asia, and America, in woods and 

 thickets, especially in limestone countries. De Candolle remarks that 

 it extends in Europe from Candia to Christiania, and that while in 

 northern latitudes it is a valley plant, it becomes in the south exclu- 

 sively a mountaineer, climbing so high on Mount ^Etna as to be the 

 most alpine of the shrubs of the sterile belt of that mountain at the 

 height of 7500 feet. Like all such plants it has in the course of ages 

 formed numerous varieties ; these are however chiefly confined to the 

 fruit, there being a great similarity in -the foliage of all except one. 



This species is usually a bush from four to six feet high ; but in 

 Italy it becomes as large as a plum-tree, living a couple of centuries 

 or more. The wood is hard but brittle, and is chiefly employed by 

 the dyers for staining yellow. The acid qualities of this fruit render 

 it unfit to eat raw, but it makes one of the most delicious of preserves. 



B. Canadensit, Canadian Barberry. Spines divided into three equal 

 lobes ; branches covered with little elevated points ; leaves oblong, 

 distantly and coarsely toothed ; flowers in corymbose racemes, nodding. 

 Found in the northern states of North America. It is generally con- 

 sidered the same as Berberis vtdgarw, because the specimens called Ji. 

 Canadeniis both in gardens and herbaria certainly are so ; but this, 

 the true plant of Miller and others, appears to differ from the common 

 species in the characters here assigned to it ; its leaves are moreover 

 of a thicker texture. 



B. crata>gina, Hawthorn Barberry. Spines simple ; leaves oblong, 

 strongly netted, with a straggling scrrature here and there ; flowers 

 in dense, drooping, many-flowered racemes, which are scarcely longer 

 than the leaves. Described by De Candolle from specimens collected 

 in Asia Minor. 



B. Ibcrica, Iberian Barberry. Spines often simple, but sometimes 

 3-cleft ; leaves nearly undivided ; flowers in loose nearly erect racemes, 

 much longer than the leaves. A native of Spain. The berries arc 

 dark purple. 



B. Sinensti, Chinese Barberry. Spines 3-parted or none ; leaves 

 lanceolate, very acute, much netted, entire, or regularly toothed; 

 flowers numerous, in drooping racemes, which are not much longer 

 than the leaves. A native of the north of India and of China. 



3. Leaves leathery, erergreen ; Flowers solitary, or in clusters. 



B. Wa/lichiana Wallich's Barberry. Spines long, slender, 3-partod ; 

 leaves oblong, lanceolate, deep-green, sharp-pointed, finely serrated ; 

 flowers very numerous, in clusters shorter than the leaves. A native 

 of Nepaul, and apparently of the higher part of the country. B. atro- 

 i-iridis is another name for this species. 



B. dulcis, Sweet-Fruited Barberry. Spines long, slender, simple, 

 or 3-parted ; leaves obovate, obtuse, with or without a bristly point, 



