246 BERBERIS 



fine marginal teeth like those of B. vulgaris ; others stiff, hard, and holly-like, 

 with a few large spiny teeth resembling the leaflets of Mahonia ; others tri- 

 foliolate or pinnate. Flowers and fruits not seen. 



A hybrid between B. Aquifolium (the seed-bearer) and B. vulgaris, which 

 appeared in Baumann's once famous nursery at Bolwiller, in Alsace, about 

 1850. It has but little to recommend it as a garden plant, being in my 

 experience a sterile, flowerless mule. As a scientific curiosity it is interesting, 

 for it unites the two sections of the genus, although remarkably distinct from 

 either of its parents. The form with spiny-toothed leaves like holly is usually 

 and erroneously called " ilicifolia " in nurseries. 



B. FINN ATA, Lagasca. 



(B. fascicularis, Sims, Bot. Mag., t. 2396 ; Mahonia fasc., De Candolle?) 



This very distinct Mahonia has been regarded by some authorities as a 

 variety of B. Aquifolium, but there is little doubt that it deserves to rank as a 

 species. In stature alone it is very different, for in favourable situations it is 

 12 to 16 ft. high. A beautiful specimen stands near the entrance door to the 

 vicarage at Bitton, 12 ft. high, and a still taller one in Phoenix Park, Dublin, 

 is 16 ft. In foliage it differs in being of a dull greyish green, and the narrower 

 leaflets number sometimes thirteen or fifteen to each leaf. Flowers yellow, 

 produced in erect racemes about 3 ins. long, not confined, as in B. Aquifolium, 

 to the top, but developed in leaf-axils down the stem. 



Native of Western N. America (California, New Mexico, etc.), and thus 

 having a more southern distribution than B. Aquifolium; introduced in 1819. 

 It is not so hardy as B. Aquifolium, but thrives very well at Kew, being 

 altogether about the most desirable of the Mahonia group. 



B. POLYANTHA, Hemsley. 



A deciduous shrub, 6 to 10 ft. high, the young shoots reddish brown, ribbed, 

 not downy ; thorns' solitary or three-pronged, \ to I in. long. Leaves obovate 

 and mostly rounded at the end, the larger ones toothed at the terminal half, 

 the smaller ones frequently entire, all tapered and wedge-shaped at the base ; 

 ^ to 2 ins. long, \ to f in. wide ; finely net-veined on both sides, not downy ; 

 stalk \ in. or less long. Flowers yellow ; produced during June and July in 

 drooping panicles 3 to 4 ins. long, i to i^ ins. wide, carrying twenty to over 

 fifty blossoms. Fruit red. 



Discovered in 1899 by Mr A. E. Pratt, near Tatien-lu, Szechuen, W. China ; 

 introduced from the same region by Wilson in 1904. A very fine species, 

 remarkable for the large and abundant flower-panicles. 



B. PRUINOSA, Franchet. 



An evergreen shrub at present 4 to 8 ft. high in this country, but probably 

 8 to 12 ft. eventually; branchlets round, smooth ; spines three-parted, up to 

 i in. long. Leaves three to five together in tufts, smooth, leathery, i to 2^ ins. 

 long, oval or obovate, lustrous green above, often grey-white beneath, the apex 

 and upper two-thirds set with slender, spiny teeth. Flowers variously arranged 

 at each leaf-cluster, some being solitary on their stalks and in fascicles, others 

 on an umbel i in. long ; they are citron-yellow, and about the average size of 

 barberry flowers. Fruit black, but covered with an abundant plum-coloured 

 bloom. 



Introduced to France from Yunnan, China, by the Abbe Delavay in 1894, 

 this species reached Kew three years later. It is a promising shrub, somewhat 

 similar in general appearance to B. aristata, but quite distinct in the arrange- 

 ment of its flowers. It commences to bloom at the end of April. 



