INEDIBLE FRUITS 379 



because of the clusters of bluish-black fruit. 

 These are both handsome dwarf evergreen 

 shrubs abundant from British America to central 

 California, also in Colorado. There is also a 

 purple-leaved variety, otherwise not unlike the 

 common barberry, and there are varieties with 

 variegated white or yellow leaves and varieties 

 bearing white, yellow, and black fruit, in striking 

 contrast to the red fruit of the common species. 

 Moreover there are varieties with seedless fruits. 



All in all, then, there is opportunity for such 

 blending of racial characteristics as should give 

 the hybrid barberries an impetus to variation, 

 and afford opportunity for rapid development. 



My experiments in selection may be regarded 

 as constituting pioneer work, and as affording 

 material for the hybridizing experiments through 

 which the plant may be perfected as a fruit 

 bearer. Already the fruit has been made larger 

 and of better flavor, and the seeds have been 

 minimized. With the aid of crosses of the species 

 named, and also, probably, with the introduction 

 of the racial strains of a wild species of western 

 Texas, Utah, and Mexico (Berberis Fremonti] , 

 which I now have under culture, and which some- 

 times bears fruit of exceptional size and superior 

 quality, though not as abundantly as most other 

 species, it should be possible to produce a new 



