40 Barberry ( Berberidacece) 



with two glandular spots on the inside of each near 

 the base. Sepals, six (with two to six small bracts 

 beneath), rounded, attached beneath the seed-case. 

 Stamens, six, irritable, opposite the petals. Seed- 

 case, one, free. May, June. 



Leaves, simple, alternate or often clustered in rosettes ; 

 edge finely toothed, each tooth tipped with a delicate 

 bristle ; sour. On the new shoots the leaves often 

 take the form of branching spines. 

 Wood and inner bark yellow. 



Fruit, in drooping clusters, scarlet, oblong, with one to 

 few seeds ; edible, but too acid to be agreeable ex- 

 cepting in "preserve"; a berry. September. 

 Found in thickets in fields and along roadsides ; abun- 

 dantly in New England, where it has become 

 thoroughly naturalized since its introduction from 

 Europe, less commonly elsewhere. 



A curious thorny bush, three to eight feet high, with 

 bluish-green foliage, attractive in flower and more attrac- 

 tive in fruit. The bark and roots, used with alum, yield 

 a yellow dye. 



In some regions, an old opinion is said still to linger, 

 that the presence of the barberry causes blight in the 

 grain field. 



There is a curious fact reported concerning the flowers 

 which is suggestive of human nerves. When not " doc- 

 tored," the least touch upon one of their stamens will 

 cause it to spring like a tiny thread of steel, but treat the 

 bush with laudanum or any opiate and the stamens be- 

 come limp, or with a poison like arsenic and they become 

 rigid, as wholly irresponsive in either case as would be a 

 human nerve. 



