BERBERIS BARBERRY. 



77 



short ; stigma circular, depressed. Fruit a 1- to 9-seeded berry ; seeds 

 erect, with a crustaceous integument. 



Shrubs with yellow inner bark and wood, bristly serrate, often spiny 

 1- to 9-foliate leaves. Yellow flowers in drooping racemes, and acid fruit. 



Berberis vulgaris Linne. Common Barberry. 



Description. Flower and fruit as in the generic description above. 

 Leaves on the young shoots mostly reduced to sharp triple or branched 

 spines ; on older branches they are produced in clusters or rosettes, and 

 are ovate-oblong, with sharp bristly teeth. The flowers, in long drooping 

 racemes, are produced from the axils 

 of these leaves. The berries are ob- 

 long, 2-seeded, scarlet, and possess a 

 gratefully acid and somewhat astrin- 

 gent taste. 



A shrub, 4 to 8 feet in height, 

 diffusely branched at the top, with a 

 whitish or light gray, shining bark 

 on the young shoots, and a much 

 darker gray on the old stems. Flow- 

 ers in May and June and matures its 

 fruit in autumn. 



Habitat. Common barberry is a 

 native of Europe, but has become 

 naturalized and grows wild in some 

 sections of New England. It is com- 

 mon in cultivation all over the country 

 as an ornamental shrub. 



Berberis Canadensis Pursh. 

 American Barberry. 



Description. Flowers and fruit as 

 in the generic description above. 

 Petals notched at the apex. Leaves 

 repandly toothed, and less bristly 

 pointed than in preceding species. 

 Racemes fewer flowered. Berries oval. 



A shrub from 1 to 3 feet in height. Formerly considered by many 

 botanists a mere variety of B. vulgaris. Flowers in May and June. 



Habitat. Mountainous regions from Virginia to Georgia. 



Berberis Aquifolium Pursh. Holly-leaved Barberry. 



Description. Calyx: sepals suborbicular, membranaceous. Corolla: 

 petals connivent, the innermost bifid at the apex. Berries dark purple. 



A shrub from 2 to 5 feet in height, with evergreen, pinnate leaves ; 

 leaflets in 3 to 6 pairs, with an odd terminal one, coriaceous, ovate-lanceo- 

 late or elliptical-oblong, inequilateral or slightly cordate at the base, repand 



FIG. 101. Berberis vulgaris. 



