4-2 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



GENUS I. 



BE'RBERIS L. THE BERBERRY. Lin. Syst. Hexandria Monogynia. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., 442.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 105 ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 114. 



Synonymes. Pipperidge Bush ; E'pine vinette, Fr. ; Berberitze, Ger. 



Derivation. Berberys is the Arabic word used for this plant by Averrhoes and other writers on 

 medicine ; but some persons derive the name from the Greek word berberi. signifying a shell from 

 the leaves of the common species having a hollow surface. Hochart says that the word Berberis is 

 derived from the Phoenician word barar, which signifies shining like a shell, from their shining 

 leaves. Gerard says that the word Berbery is a corruption of amyrberis, the name given to the 

 plant by Avicenna. Du Hamel says that Berberis is derived from an Indian word signifying mother 

 of pearl. Pipperidge bush, or piprage tree, Gerard says, is Dr. Turner's name for the plant and 

 it is still given to it in Cambridgeshire. E'pine vinette signifies the acid, or sorrel, thorn, from 

 the taste of the fruit and leaves. 



Gen. Char. Sepals 6, guarded on the outside by 3 scales. Petals 6, with 2 

 glands on the inside of each. Stamens toothless. Semes 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's Mil/.) B. heterophylla Jugs, has 

 toothed stamens. 



Leaves simple, alternate, exstipulate, deciduous or evergreen ; toothed 

 or serrated, coriaceous, with numerous small leaves produced at the axils 

 of the larger ones, often abortive in the form of prickles. Flowers yellow. 

 Fruit red, in some kinds black, purple or white in others. Shrubs natives 

 of Europe, North America, and Asia ; characterised in a general view by 

 being crowded with suckers, and having axillary tufts of leaves and spines. 

 The species are all readily propagated by seeds which most of them ripen 



in England ; and also by side suckers and root suckers, which almost all of 



them throw up in abundance. 



,A. Leaves thin, deciduous. Flowers solitary. 

 jet ]. B. SIBI'RICA Pall. The Siberian Berberry. 



Identification. Pall. Fl. Ross., 2. p. 42. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 108. ; Don's Mill., 1 p. 117. ; Pen. Cyc, 



4. p. 260. 

 nymes. 

 ravings. Pall. Fl. Ross., 2. t. 67. 



St/nonymes. B. altaica Pal. ; Vinettier de Sibfcrie, Fr. 

 Engravings. Pall. 

 fig. 53. after Pallas. 



and our fig. 52. after Hayne, arid 



Spec. Char., 4-c. Spines 

 3 7-parted. Leaves 

 lanceolate-obovate, ci- 

 1 iately serrated. Pe- 

 duncles 1 -flowered, 

 shorterthan theleaves. 

 (Don's Miller.) An 

 erect deciduous shrub. 

 Siberia, on hills and 

 the lower mountains. 

 Height 2ft. to 3ft. 

 Introduced in 1790. 

 Flowers yellow; May 

 and June. Berry red ; 

 ripe in September. 



53. Bttberis sibirica. 



B. Leaves thin, mostly deciduous. Flowerf in Racemes. 

 & 2. B. VULGA^RIS L. The common Berberry. 



Iltntijlcation. Lin. Sp., 472. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 105. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 115. 



Synonymcs. B. setnensis Prest; B. macrocarpa of some ; Pipperidge Tree, Dr. Turner ; E'pine 



vinette, Fr. ; gemeine Berberitze, Ger. 

 Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 49. ; Willd. Baum., t. 39. ; and our fig. 54., in which a is a specimen in 



flower, b a specimen in fruit, c a flower of the natural size, and d a fruit of the natural size. 



