B E R 



261 



HER 



vided 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. This plant is not 

 now in our gardens. It is generally considered the same 

 as Herberts vulgaris, because the specimens called B. Carta- 

 tlfnsis, both in gardens and herbaria, certainly are so ; but 

 this, the true plant of Miller and others, appears to be 

 abundantly different from the common species in thu cha- 

 racters here assigned to it : its leaves are, moreover, of a 

 thicker texture. We have a wild specimen gathered by 

 Frazer, which entirely agrees with what is said of the species 

 by Pursh. 



5. Herberts crateegina (hawthorn barberry). Spines sim- 

 ple ; leaves oblong, strongly netted, with a straggling ser- 

 rature here and there ; llowors in dense, drooping, many- 

 flowered racemes which are scarcely longer than the leaves. 

 Described by De Candolle from specimens collected in Asia 

 Minor. Young plants of what is said to be this species are 

 in the gardens, but they have not yet flowered. 



6. Berberis Iberica (Iberian barberry). Spines often 

 simple, but sometimes three-cleft ; leaves nearly undivided ; 

 flowers in loose, nearly erect racemes, much longer than the 

 leaves. A native of Iberia, and very like B. vulgaris, from 

 which its smaller toothless leaves, and thin, almost upright 

 racemes of smaller flowers at once distinguish it. The ber- 

 ries are dark purple. There is a bad figure of it in Watson's 

 DendrologiaBritannica, plate 20, under the erroneous name 

 of Berberis Sinensh. 



7. Berberis Sinensis (Chinese barberry). Spines three- 

 parted, or none ; loaves 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, where it was found 

 during Lord Macartney's embassy, between Pekin and 

 Jehol. More common in French than English gardens. 

 Its leaves are sometimes almost toothless, sometimes rather 

 finely, and occasionally very coarsely toothed. They are 

 much smaller, thicker, and more netted than those of B. 

 Iberica, which this species most resembles. The berries 

 are said by De Candolle to be dark-purple : we find them a 

 dirty red, on plants which we are certain he considered to 

 belong to this species. 



* Leaves leathery, evergreen ; flowers solitary, or 

 in clusters. 



8. Berber-it Wa.llichia.na (Wallich's barberry). Spines 

 long, slender, three-parted ; leaves oblong, lanceolate, deep- 

 green, sharp-pointed, finely serrated ; flowers very nume- 

 rous, in clusters shorter than the leaves. A native of Nepaul, 

 and apparently of the higher part of the country. It has 

 never yet been introduced to our gardens ; but it is exceed- 

 ingly well worth procuring on account of its deep-green 

 evergreen leaves. B. atroviridis is another name for it. 



9. Berberis dulcis (sweet-fruited barberry). Spine* long, 

 slender, simple, or three parted ; leaves obovate, obtuse, 

 with or without a bristly point, quite entire, glaucous on the 

 under-side ; flowers solitary, on slender stalks, twice as long 

 as the leaves. A native of the south-western part of South 

 America, from the Straits of Magalhaens to Valdivia, where 

 it forms a small evergreen bush. Its fruit is round, black, 

 about as large as a pea : it is said to be sweet, and well 

 suited for making tarts or preserving. This species has 

 been some years in this country, but is at present very rare. 



10. Berberii heterophylla (various-leaved barberry). 

 Spines strong, three-parted; leaves obovate, lanceolate, 

 acute, eilher entire or with from three to five spiny teeth, 

 very deep green ; flowers solitary, on stalks about twice as 

 long as the leaves. An inelegant bush about three feet 

 high, bare of leaves, and having nothing but its rarity to 

 recommend it; it is a native of the Straits of Magalhaens; 

 in the gardens it is usually called B. ilicifulia ; there is a 

 figure of it in Hooker's Exutic flora, vol. i. t. 14. 



11. Berberis empetrifolia (crow berry-leaved barberry). 

 Spines slender, long, in three or five deep divisions ; leaves 

 linear, with a spiny point, rolled back at the edge, collected 

 in bundles in the axils of the spines; flowers solitary, 

 growing on stalks aliout as long as the leaves. A very cu- 

 rious and pretty plant, as yet- rare in this country ; found 

 wild, from the Cordilleras of Chili to the southern point of 

 the American continent, over the whole of which country 

 it appears to be very common. In general aspect it is much 

 more like a heath than a barberry. 



Besides these species there are several of great beauty 

 as evergreen shrubs to be procured from South America : 

 of these Berberis aciinacantha, an extremely common plant 

 between Valparaiso and St. lago, might be easily intro- 

 duced. 



* Leaves leathery, evergreen ; flowers in racemes. 



12. Berberis flaribunda (many-flowered barberry). 

 Spines very stiff and three-parted ; leaves oblong or oblong- 

 lanceolate, nearly entire or toothed in various degrees, some- 

 times very deeply and coarsely veined ; flowers in long 

 loose slender racemes. Apparently extremely common in 

 the whole of the north of India, where it forms a tall bush, 

 varying considerably in the form and size of the leaves, 

 and in the degree in which they are toothed, but always 

 well marked by its slender, pendulous, or erect racemes of 

 flowers, which are much longer than the leaves, and in no 

 degree corymbose. It is to be found occasionally in the 

 more choice collections of this country. Out of accidental 

 variations in -its mode of leafing and flowering, the spurious 

 species called B. affinis and ceratophylla have been con- 

 stituted. By Dr. Wallich, in his great distribution of the 

 Herbarium of the East India Company, it has been mis- 

 taken for B. aristata, which is altogether another plant. 



13. Berberis Asiatica (raisin barberry). Spines small 

 and weak, simple or three-parted ; leaves oblong or obovate, 

 acute, somewhat glaucous beneath, either entire or coarsely 

 or even finely toothed ; flowers in short compact racemes 

 not longer than the leaves. Found in Nepaul and Kamaoon 

 very abundantly, forming a tall bush >i-ith the habit of the 

 common European barberry. The fruit is round, covered 

 over with a thick bloom, and has altogether the appearance 

 of the finest raisins. It is produced abundantly in this 

 climate, where the plant is now not very uncommon. The 

 very short racemes are the principal dis'tinction of this spe- 

 cies when in flower. 



14. Berberis dealbata (whitened barberry). Spines 

 scarcely any ; leaves roundish, coarsely toothed, rather 

 glaucous, white beneath ; racemes very short and compact, 

 pendulous. Recently introduced by the Horticultural So- 

 ciety from Mexico. It is a tall, slender, evergreen bush, 

 with deep-brown branches and scarcely any spines. The 

 leaves are sometimes wedge-shaped and three-toothed, but 

 more frequently nearly round, with two or three spiny teeth 

 on each side. It is sometimes called in the gardens by mis- 

 take B. glaucu, which is a different species. 



15. Berberis aristata (bristle- leaved barberry). Spines 

 three-parted, simple, or wanting ; leaves obovate, acute, 

 shining on both sides, with a few bristle-pointed teeth on 

 either edge ; racemes always more or less compound and 

 corymbose. A native of the mountains of India, extending 

 from the Himalayan range down the Nilgherry as far as 

 Nuera Ellia and Adam's Peak in Ceylon ; it is a hardy sub- 

 evergreen bush in the gardens. Its stature is that of the 

 common barberry, but it is a far handsomer species, not 

 only because of its evergreen leaves, but on account of the 

 fine largje corymbose racemes of flowers with which it is 

 covered in June. Its fruit is oblong, brownish-purple, with 

 little or no bloom, and about three seeds ; the flavour is in- 

 sipid, with a little acidity. The form of the leaves and their 

 degree of toothing are too fallacious to be cited as marks by 

 which this may be distinguished from other species. It is, 

 however, immediately known by its compound racemes of 

 flowers, which have a corymbose appearance, as is well 

 represented in the Botanical Register, t. 729, where the 

 plant is called B. chitria ; the chitri of the Nepaulese is how- 

 ever not this plant, but Berberis petiolaris, a species not 

 yet in England. 



Besides the foregoing there are still some beautiful species 

 to introduce from the south of Chili, particularly one found 

 by Mr. Bridges near Valdivia, with shining holly-like leaves, 

 long racemes of orange-coloured flowers, and young branches 

 covered with rusty down. We particularly invite the atten- 

 tion of travellers in Chili to this plant, the seeds of which 

 would certainly reach England in safctv if mixed with 

 tenacious earth and rammed into a box. 



$2. Leaves pinnated ; all evergreen. ASH-BAKBKRRIKS. 



16. Berberis fascicularis (Californian ash-barberry). 

 Leaflets ovate, finely toothed, not shining ; flowers in short 

 compact clusters ; stem tall and woody. Found in the 

 mountainous parts of California and Mexico. A very hand- 

 some .evergreen shrub, with pinnated leaves which are by 



