BENTINCKIA 



BERBERIS 



487 



spadix lJ^-2 ft., many times branched, the branchlets 

 inserted in woolly grooves: fr. about as large as a 

 cherry. India. R.H. 1896, p. 249. n. Taylor. 



BENZOIN (of Arabic or Semitic origin, moaning a 

 gum or perfume). Syn., Lindera. Lauracea>.. Ornamen- 

 tal woody plants, grown chiefly for their handsome 

 aromatic foliage; some species also for their early yel- 

 low flowers and the brightly colored fruits in autumn. 



Aromatic shrubs or trees: Ivs. alternate, entire or 

 3-lobed, deciduous or persistent: fls. polygamous or 

 dio-cious, apetalous, small, in axillary clusters with an 

 involucre of 4 deciduous scales; sepals 6, rarely more; 

 staminate fls. with 9 stamens, pistillate with a globose 

 ovary and 9-1.5 staminodes: fr. a 1-seeded drupe. 

 — About 60 species, if Daphnidimn and Aperula are 

 included, in Temp, and Trop. E. and Cent. Asia and in 

 N. Amer. 



Some Asiatic species yield an odorous oil used in per- 

 fiunery. The cultivated species, with the exception of 

 B. gracile, are deciduous shrubs, with yellow flowers in 

 small clusters before the leaves and red or black fruits 

 in autumn. B. xstival-e is hardy North and B. obtusi- 

 lobum has proved hardy at the Arnold Arboretum in a 

 sheltered position; B. hypoglaucuni is of about equal 

 hardiness; the other species are more tender. 



They thrive best in peaty or sandy and moist soil. 

 Propagation is usually by seeds, which must be sown 

 after maturity, as they soon lose their vitality; also by 

 layers, which root best in peaty soil; of greenwood cut- 

 tings under glass, one-half may be expected to loot. 

 The benzoin of the drug- 

 gists is a balsamic resin 

 obtained from Slyrax 

 Benzoin. 



aestivale, Nees (Ben- 

 zoin Benzoin, Coulter. 

 B. odoriferum, Nees. Lln- 

 dera Binzoin, Blume). 

 Spice Bush. Benj.\min 

 Bush. Wild Allspice. 

 Fever Bu.sh. Fig. 537. 

 Shrub, 6-15 ft., nearly 

 glabrous: Ivs. oblong- 

 obovate, finely eiliate, 

 bright green, pale be- 

 neath, 3-5 in. long: fls. 

 yellow, before the Ivs. : 

 beny red, oblong, spicy. 

 New Eng. southward 

 and west to Kan. Em. 

 365. — The bark is aro- 

 matic, stimulant, tonic, 

 astringent; the fr. is like- 

 wise used medicinally. 

 The shrub is attractive 

 in early spring with its 

 j-ellow, small, but numer- 

 ous fls., and handsome 

 in autumn with its 

 foliage turning clear yel- 

 low and studded with 

 the scarlet frs. 



B. (jrdciU, Kuntze (Daphnidium gracile, Nees). Lvs. ovate, 

 3-nerved, chartaceous, persisteot. Habitat unknown. Stove plant. 

 — B. hiipoolnucum, Rehd. (Lindera hypORlauca, Maxim. B. hypo- 

 leucum, Kuntze). Lvs. penninerved. glaucous beneath; clu.stcrs 

 few-fld., with or before the lvs.: berries black. Japan. — B. melinHifd- 

 lium, Nees. Allied to B. ffistivale. Branches pubescent: lvs. 

 oblong, downy beneath. Southern states. B.M. 1470. — B. oUu- 

 ailobum, Kuntze. Large shrub with very handsome foliage; lvs. 

 3-nerved, ovate or 3-iobed, grayish green and nearly glabrous 

 beneath, 2-4 ' a in. long: clusters many-fld. : berries black. Japan. 

 G.F. 6:295. S.I.F. 1:44. — S? priirox, Sieb. & Zucc. Lvs. penni- 

 nerved. elliptic-obiong, greenish beneath, acuminate: clusters few- 

 fld., before the lvs.: berries brownish, ^^in. diam. Japan. S.LF. 

 2:19. — B. sericeum, Sieb. & Zucc. Lvs. petminervcd, grayish 

 pubescent beneath: clusters many-fid., with the lvs. Japan. 



Alfred Rehder. 



537. 

 Beazoin sstivale. 



CX}i) 



BERBERIDOPSIS (from BerbeHs and Greek opsis, 

 likeness). Flacourliacex. Ornamental shrub cultivated 

 for its crimson flowers and evergreen fohage. 



Branches slender, terete: lvs. alternate, petioled, 

 dentate: fls. perfect, long-pedicelled, in terminal racemes; 

 bracts, sepals and petals gradually passing into one 

 another, 9-15, the inner ones concave, larger; stamens 

 7-10 with very short filaments; ovary superior, 1-celled 

 with many ovules; style short, with 3-lobed stigraa: 

 fr. a berry. — One species in Chile. 



This is a low, glabrous, slightly climbing shrub, with 

 deep green foliage and crimson flowers in drooping 

 racemes, for temperate regions or the cool greenhouse, 

 growing in almost any soil. Propagation is by seeds 

 sown in spring, by greenwood cuttings in spring, or by 

 layers in autimin. 



corallina, Hook. Lvs. cordate, oblong-ovate, coarsely 

 spinulose-dentate, 2-3 in. long: fls. globose, over V^in. 

 long, crimson, in many-fid. bracteate racemes. B.M. 

 .5343. F.S. 20:2137. F.W. 1875:97. G. 2:547. 32:175. 

 H.F. 1863:148. Alfred Rehder. 



BERBERIS (Arabic name). Berheridacex. Bar- 

 berry. Ornamental deciduous or evergreen shrubs, 

 cultivated for their handsome foliage assuming in most 

 species brilliant autumnal tints, and for their bright 

 yellow flowers and attractive fruit. 



Spiny shrubs with yellow inner bark and wood: Iva. 

 alternate, ofte n fascicle d, usually glabrous, simple, 

 deciduous or evergreen : fls. in elongated or umbel-like, 

 rarely compound racemes, or fascicled or solitary; 

 sepals 6 with 2 or 3 bractlets below; petals 6, often 

 smaller than sepals and usually with 2 glands near the 

 base; stamens 6, included, the anthers opening with 

 valves; ovarj- superior, 1-celled, with 1 to many ovules: 

 fr. a berry with 1 or several oblong seeds. — Nearly 175 

 species in Amer. from Brit. Col. to Patagonia, in Asia, 

 Eu., and N. Afr. Monogr. by Schneider in Bull. Hort. 

 '-^ Boi.ssier, Ser. II. 5:33, 133, 391, 449, 6.55, 800, 813 

 (1905). Mahonia is now considered by most botanists 

 as a distinct genus, differing from the true barberries by 

 the pinnate lvs., by the racemes appearing in the axils 

 of the bud-scales and by the spineless branches. The 

 spines of the barberry are, morphologically, lvs., and 

 the lvs. are borne on short branches in their axils (Fig. 

 538). The stamens are sensitive; when the filaments 

 are touched with a pin, the fis. first open, and the sta- 

 mens fly forward upon the pistil. Alfred Rehder. 



The different species of hardy deciduous barberries 

 are excellent decorative shrubs with pleasing habits of 

 growth. The flowers of most of them in spring and 

 early summer, whilst not conspicuous, are very attrac- 

 tive, and the fruits of nearly all are highly ornamental 

 in late summer, fall and early winter on account of their 

 red, dark blue or nearly black color. Berberis a)nurensis, 

 B. sinensis, B. diaphann, B. Poiretii, B. Regeliana, B. 

 Sieholdii, and B. Thunbergii all assume brilliant fall 

 colors in varying shades of orange and red. Some 

 species, as B. Thunbergii, B. Sieboldii, and B. Rehder- 

 iana, retain their bright red fruits unchanged until the 

 following spring, while the fruits of the other species 

 shrivel and dry up during the winter. 



Berberis aristala is the strongest-growing species and 

 attains a height of 12 to 13 feet in twenty years, with 

 gracefully arching branches, and has violet-red fruits; 

 the thickish leaves are semi-persistent. B. canadensis 

 forms a neat compact bush 3 to 3^2 feet with upright 

 spreading branches. The small clu.sters of bright red 

 fruits are very attractive. This is a rare shrub in culti- 

 vation, and B. vulgaris has often been sold for it. B. 

 sinensis is a neat, graceful shrub with pendulous 

 branches Zli to 4 feet and hears numerous clusters of 

 bright red fruits. B. diaphana forms a dense compact 

 shrub 2, '-2 to 3 feet, but its chief decorative value is in 

 its rich fall coloring, as the solitary flowers and fruits 



