Berberis. BERBERIDACEJ]. 33 



1. Berberis vulgaris, Linn. Common Berberry or Barberry. 



Branches with triple spines, minutely dotted ; leaves oval-obovate, closely serrate with 

 bristly teeth ; racemes nodding, many-flowered ; petals entire ; berries oblong. — Willd. sp. 

 2. p. 227; Lam. ill. t. 243 ; Bigel.fl. Bost. p. 128; Hook.fl. Bor.-Am. I. p. 28, excl. syn.; 

 Torr. <^ Gr.fl. N. Am. l.p. 50 ; Land. arb. Brit. arb. p. 42. B. vulgaris, var. Canadensis, 

 Torr.fl. l.p. 336, not of Willd. 



A shrub 3-8 feet high, with yellowish-white wood and yellow pith, producing numerous 

 suckers ; spines sometimes simple. Leaves deciduous, of a bluish-green color, acid. Flowers 

 pale yellow, emitting a peculiar and not unpleasant odor. Berries very acid, about half an 

 inch long, 1 — 2-seeded. 



Hedges, fields and road sides : introduced from Europe and naturalized in many places 

 along the Hudson, but not yet occurring in the interior of the State. Fl. Middle to the end of 

 May. Fr. September. 



The inner bark of the stem and roots, with the addition of alum, affords a yellow dye. The 

 fruit is often made into a sweetmeat, and the jelly mixed with water is a pleasant drink in 

 fevers. Many agriculturalists are of opinion that the Barberry produces blight in grain. This 

 prejudice has come down from ancient times, but it is probably not well founded. In Berberis 

 proper, the primary leaves are changed to spines, in the axils of which the secondary leaves 

 are fascicled. 



Tribe II. NANDINEJE. Torr. 6f Gr. 



Embryo minute at the apex of the albumen, often excentric or oblique with respect to the 

 hilum : radicle short and thick : cotyledons very small, roundish. Perennial herb$. 

 Leaves decompound or lobed. 



2. LEONTICE. Linn. ; R. Br. ; Endl. gen. 4810. 



[Abridged from Leonlopetalon ; the leaf being thought to resemble a lion's foot.] 

 Sepals 3-6. Petals 6, bearing a little scale or nectary at the base within. Pericarp mem- 

 branaceous, caducous or inflated, 2 - 4-seeded. Seeds erect, globose : albumen homy. 

 — Smooth herbs, with a tuberous rhizoma. Radical leaves petiolate, pinnately or temately 

 divided. Flowers in loose racemes or panicles. 



§. CAULOPHYI.I.UM, Michx. Pericarp bursting at an early period ! exposing the finally drupe-lik* 



seed raised on its thickened funiculus. \ 



1. Leontice thalictroides, Linn. Blue Cohosh. Pappoose-root. 



Leaves tritemate ; the radical ones on long petioles ; cauline 1-2, destitute of a common 

 petiole ; the lower tritemate, the upper (when present) much smaller and biternate ; leaflets 

 [Fmra.] 5 



