Genus BERBERIS, Linn. 
Berberaceae. Hexandria Monogynia. 
Syst. Nat. Syst. Lin. 
Synonymcs. 
Berbens, Oi Authors. 
Epine vinette, France. 
Berberitzbeerenstrauch, Sauerdorn, Germany. 
Berberis, Portugal. 
Berbero, Crespino, Italy. 
Espina de majuelas, Spain. 
Berbery, Pipperidge Bush, Britain and Anglo- America. 
Derivations. The word Berberis is of very doubtful origin. Some derive it from the Arabic berberys, a word used for this 
slant by Averrhoes and other writers on medicine ; others from the Greek word, berberi, signifying a shell, from the leaves of 
,he common kind having a hollow surface. Bochart derives it from the Phoenician word, barar, which signifies shiny like a 
ihell. Gerard says, that it is corrupted from the word amyrberis, the name given to this plant by Avicenna. Du Hamel derives 
t from an Indian word signifying Mother of-pearl. The French name, Epine vinette, signifies Acid or Sorrel Thorn, from 
,he taste of the fruit and leaves. The Spanish name signifies Prickly-hawthorn Berberry ; and the German and Italian names 
ire derived from the botanic one. 
Generic Characters. Sepals 6, guarded on the outside by 3 scales. Petals 6, with 2 glands on the inside 
of each. Stamens toothless. Berries 2 3-seeded. Seeds 2, rarely 3, laterally inserted at the base of 
the berries, erect, oblong, with a crustaceous coat and fleshy albumen. Cotyledons leafy, elliptical. 
Radicle long, capitellate at the tip. Don, Miller's Diet. 
LL the species of Berberis are shrubs from two to twenty feet in height, 
in a wild state, and sometimes attain an elevation of thirty feet, 
when cultivated. They all throw up numerous side-suckers, and 
^^ the stronger-growing species, if these were carefully removed, might be 
formed into very handsome small trees. In all the species, the flowers are yel- 
low. The fruit is generally red, always acid, and more or less astringent. The 
irritability of the stamens, more particularly those of the Berberis vulgaris, 
canadensis, and sinensis, the flowers of which expand, is a very remarkable prop- 
arty in vegetable economy. When the filament is touched on the inside with 
the point of a pin, or any other hard instrument, the stamens 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, 
iry weather. The cause of this curious action, like that of all other vital phe- 
nomena, is unknown. All that has been ascertained concerning it is, that the 
irritability of the filament is affected differently by different noxious substances. 
[t has been found by Messrs. Macaire and Marcett, that, if a berberry is poisoned 
with any corrosive agent, such as arsenic, or bicloride of mercury, the filaments 
become rigid and brittle, and lose their irritability ; while, on the other hand, if 
the poisoning be effected by any narcotic, such as prussic acid, opium, or bella- 
donna, the irritability is destroyed by the filaments becoming so relaxed and 
flaccid, that they can be easily bent in any direction. In the original position 
:>f the stamens, the anthers are sheltered from rain by the concavity of the petals. 
Thus, probably, they remain till some insect comes to extract honey from the 
base of the flowers, and, thrusting itself between the filaments, unavoidably 
touches them in the most irritable part, and in this maimer, the impregnation of 
the germs takes place. * 
Geographical Distribution. Few genera of plants are more generally dissemi- 
nated over the globe than the berberis. At least twenty species have been dis- 
covered, either in Europe, northern and central Asia, or in North and South 
America, most of which have been introduced into Britain, and treated as shrubs 
or small ornamental trees. 
* See Penny Cyclopaedia i\ ., p. 2G0. 
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