234 BERBERIS 



B. ACUMINATA, Franchet. 



An evergreen shrub, of open, spreading habit, with bright red young wood. 

 Leaves two to four together in the axils of stout, three-parted spines, which are 

 | to i in. long ; 3 to 6 ins. long, narrowly lance-shaped, stalkless, smooth, 

 dark green ; the margins cartilaginous, and armed with slender spiny teeth. 

 Flowers brownish yellow, produced in clusters of four to eight from the leaf- 

 axils of the previous year's shoots ; each flower f in. across, solitary on a slender 

 stalk i to \\ ins. long. Fruit oblong, nearly i in. long, black, covered with 

 bluish bloom. 



Discovered by the French missionary Delavay in Central China, in 1882, 

 this fine barberry was not introduced to cultivation until 1900, when Wilson 

 collected seeds in W. Hupeh. From these, plants were raised by Messrs 

 Veitch at Coombe Wood, which flowered in 1904. The species is evidently 

 hardy, and is likely to prove as ornamental as it is distinct. 



B. ^TNENSIS, Presl. MOUNT ETNA BARBERRY. 



A deciduous, dwarf, stunted bush, about 2 ft. high, with crooked branches. 

 Leaves small, J to f in. long, obovate, sometimes bristle-toothed, sometimes 

 entire ; spines three-parted, sometimes over i in. long. Flowers yellow, in 

 short racemes f to i ins. long, carrying six to fifteen flowers. Fruit red. 



Native of Sicily and Calabria, a scrubby bush inhabiting the mountains. 

 It flowers in May and June, and is very pretty with its numerous closely set 

 racemes. Suitable for the rock garden. 



B. ANGULOSA, Wallich. 

 (Bot. Mag., t. 7071.) 



A deciduous shrub, 4 ft. or more high, with erect, grooved branchlets 

 covered when young with a short, dark down. Leaves dark glossy green, 

 clustered in the axils of stiff spines, which are sometimes single, but usually 

 three- or five-branched, and up to \ in. long ; the leaves are obovate, or narrowly 

 wedge-shaped, i to \\ ins. long, leathery, narrowing at the base to a very 

 short stalk or none at all, the apex either rounded or pointed, often terminating 

 in a short tooth ; the slightly curled back margins are either entire, or have 

 one to three spiny teeth at each side. Flowers solitary, on stalks \ to i in. 

 long, or on short two- to four-flowered racemes ; orange-yellow, globose, \ to f in. 

 across ; outer sepals narrow oblong, inner ones twice as wide ; petals obovate. 

 Fruit elliptical, f in. long, scarlet. 



Native of N. India ; first discovered in Kumaon early in the nineteenth 

 century, and in 1849 by Hooker, in the Sikkim-Himalaya, at 11,000 to 13,000 ft. 

 It is absolutely hardy at Kew, and although not one of the showiest barberries, 

 is noteworthy for its unusually large flowers and berries. The latter are eatable, 

 and, being less acid, are more palatable than most barberries. 



B. AQUIFOLIUM, Pursh. OREGON GRAPE. 



(Bot Reg., t. 1425 ; Mahonia Aquifolium, Nuttall.~) 



An evergreen shrub reaching a height of 6 ft., but as commonly seen usually 

 2 to 3 ft. high. Stems spineless, but little branched, spreading by underground 

 suckers ; bark grey-brown, smooth. Leaves 6 to 12 ins. long, pinnate, con- 

 sisting of five to nine leaflets, which are stalkless, or nearly so, of variable 

 shape, but usually broadly and (except the terminal one) obliquely ovate ; i^ 

 to 3^ ins. long, glossy dark green, turning purplish in winter ; the apex and 



