BERBERIS 243 



B. HOOKERI, Lemaire. HOOKER'S BARBERRY. 



(B. Jamesoni, Hort.; B. Wallichiana, Hori. (not De Candolli).') 



An evergreen shrub, 3 to 5 ft. high, producing a dense thicket of erect, 

 angled stems, which branch near the top ; young twigs not downy ; thorns 

 usually three-forked, each fork slender, rigid, from to I in. long. Leaves in 

 tufts, lanceolate to obovate ; I to 3 ins. long, to i in. wide ; leathery, almost 

 stalkless ; dark green above, glaucous white beneath ; the margins armed 

 with slender teeth. Flowers solitary on their stalks, borne in clusters at each 

 tuft of leaves ; | in. across, pale yellow, the sepals tinged with red. Berries 

 narrow, cylindrical, ^ in. long, tapering towards the end ; black-purple, often 

 remaining on the plant until the following spring. 



Native of the Himalaya. This shrub has been so much confused with 

 B. WALLICHIANA, De Candolle, that it is difficult to disentangle the histories of 

 the two. The true B. Wallichiana is probably not in cultivation ; it differs 

 from B. Hookeri in the larger leaves (3 to 4| ins. long), and especially in their 

 veining ; the veins branch out from the midrib, parallel with each other, but 

 never reach the margin, becoming merged in a vein which runs parallel with 

 it. In B. Hookeri, the veins fork near the margin, but do not merge into one 

 another. B. Hookeri flowers in April and May, and as a rule is quite hardy. 

 The only time I have known it suffer much was during the trying winter of 

 1908-9, when it lost most of its leaves, and the upper portion of the stems was 

 killed. 



Var. LATIFOLIA. A much taller and more robust shrub. A specimen at 

 Kew was 10 ft. high and 12 ft. through, until killed to the ground during the 

 winter of 1908-9. The leaves are green and glossy on both surfaces, and they 

 are considerably longer (sometimes over 4 ins.) and broader than in ordinary 

 B. Hookeri. It is known in gardens as B. Knightii, and is, perhaps, not quite 

 so hardy as the type. 



Var. VIRIDIS. Leaves uniformly bright green beneath. Although a marked 

 characteristic of some plants, the white under-surface of typical B. Hookeri is 

 not a wholly reliable distinctive character. I have seen young plants partly 

 bright green and partly blue-white beneath. 



The best way to increase this species and its varieties is by the seeds it so 

 plentifully bears ; they may be sown in shallow boxes or in pots, and the young 

 plants pricked out the following year into nursery rows. The type and the 

 variety viridis are useful shrubs for planting in places where an evergreen is 

 wanted that will keep fairly dwarf without pruning. 



B. ILICIFOLIA, 1 Forster. HOLLY-LEAVED BARBERRY. 

 (Bot. Mag., t. 4308.) 



An evergreen, straggling bush, with deeply grooved branches ; said to grow 

 8 ft. high in Chile, but has not been more than half as high in cultivation. 

 Leaves holly-like, from I to 2 ins. long, dark glossy green, obovate, with a few 

 spiny teeth towards the apex. Flowers f in. across, orange-yellow, densely 

 crowded on short racemes. 



First introduced to Kew from S. Chile by Sir Joseph Hooker, whilst he was 

 attached to Sir John Ross's antarctic expedition, 1839-43, this striking barberry 

 has always been one of the rarest in cultivation. It may not exist in this 

 country at all at the present time, although it flowered at Kew in 1847. It is 

 probably better suited for the south-western maritime counties than inland 

 ones. A form of the hybrid B. Neubertii (q.v.) is usually offered by nursery- 

 men as B. ilicifolia. 



