BARBERRY BUSH. 



BERBERIS. 



HEXANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 



Barberry, Berberry, or Pipperidge-bush. Berberis is said to be 

 the Arabic name. French, epine vinette ; Italian, crespino. 



THE Common Barberry, Berberis vulgaris, is a shrub 

 eight or ten feet in height; the stems are upright and 

 branched; both stems and branches being armed with 

 sharp thorns, which commonly grow by threes. Linnaeus 

 affirms that the first leaves of the present year change into 

 thorns the next ; but other botanists differ from him in 

 this opinion. The flowers grow in pendulous racemes 

 towards the end of the branches ; they are yellow, with 

 orange-coloured dots at their base. The berry is green 

 when first formed ; when ripe, of a bright red. 



This fruit is made into jellies and other preserves, and 

 an essential salt is obtained from them : they are some- 

 times pickled. Their acidity is unpleasant to birds ; but 

 insects of various kinds are remarkably fond of them. 

 The leaf has an agreeable acid taste, and is a pleasant 

 ingredient in salads. 



Though pleasant at a short distance, the flowers when 

 near have an offensive odour ; therefore, these shrubs are 

 seldom planted many together, or very near to walks 

 which are much frequented. There is a heavy charge 

 against this shrub ; that it will not suffer corn to thrive 

 near it : it is said, the ears will not fill, and that this in- 

 fluence extends to a distance of three or four hundred 



