BERBERIS 247 



* 



B. REPENS, Lindley. CREEPING BARBERRY. 



(Bot. Reg., t. 1176 ; Mahonia repens, G. Don.} 



An evergreen shrub of dwarf, stiff habit, usually less than I ft. high, spreading 

 by underground stems. Leaves pinnate, consisting of three, five, or seven 

 leaflets, which are ovate, pointed, i to 2^ ins. long, spine-toothed, of a dull 

 bluish green. Racemes i| to 3 ins. long, produced in a cluster at the end of 

 the branch. Flowers deep yellow, open in April and May. Fruit black, 

 covered with a blue bloom. 



Native of Western N. America ; originally discovered during the famous 

 expedition under Lewis and Clarke, who crossed the North American continent 

 for the first time, 1804-1806. It ought to be useful in positions where a close 

 evergreen covering is desired, but it has never been extensively grown. It 

 can be propagated by removing the creeping shoots, but has never adapted 

 itself to our conditions as B. Aquifolium has, for instance. From that species 

 it differs markedly in its dull bluish foliage, which also shows itself in some 

 hybrids between the two species. B. nervosa has glossy foliage, and twice as 

 many leaflets. 



B. SANGUINEA, Franchet. 



An evergreen shrub, 6 to 9 ft. high, with smooth, pale greyish branches 

 armed with very slender three-forked spines, each fork up to i| ins. long. 

 Leaves in clusters of two to five, deep green, linear-lanceolate, tapering to a 

 fine point, the margins armed with forward-pointing, spiny teeth ; the leaf has 

 a very short stalk, and is i^ to 3 ins. long and from j to f in. wide. Flowers 

 crowded in the leaf-axils at each joint, golden yellow, on reddish stalks of 

 unequal length, the longest f in. long. The outside of the sepals is reddish. 

 Berries f in. long, blue-black. 



Native of the mountains of Szechuen, China ; introduced to France by 

 Mr Maurice de Vilmorin in 1898. It is an elegant shrub ; the specific name 

 refers to the colour of the flower-stalks and sepals. The species is distinct in 

 its narrow leaves, and long, slender spines. I saw it first in 1904, in the 

 nursery of Messrs Simon-Louis, near Metz, where it was apparently quite 

 hardy. 



B. SARGENTIANA, C. K. Schneider. SARGENT'S BARBERRY. 



An evergreen shrub up to 6 ft. high, forming thickets of erect stems; 

 yotmg shoots smooth, reddish, becoming grey; armed with three-pronged 

 spines that are \ to \\ ins. long, very sharp and rigid, grooved beneath. 

 Leaves narrowly oval or obovate-lanceolate, slender-pointed, i| to 5 ins. long, 

 \ to ij ins. wide, edged with forward-pointing spiny teeth (sometimes double); 

 dark green above, paler and distinctly veined beneath, quite smooth on both 

 surfaces. Flowers described as pale yellow, about \ in. across, borne in 

 stalkless clusters of two to six; petals broadly obovate, notched at the apex; 

 individual flower-stalk up to f in. long. Fruit black when ripe, broadly egg- 

 shaped, \ in. long. 



Native of W. Hupeh, China; introduced by Wilson in 1907. It is allied 

 to B. Hookeri and similar in habit, but hardier. In the Arnold Arboretum it 

 is described as the only evergreen barberry known to be hardy there. 

 At Kew it has withstood, quite unaffected, weather which injured B. Hookeri. 



B. SIBIRICA, Pallas. SIBERIAN BARBERRY. 



A low, deciduous bush, usually i^ to 2 ft. high, with short, twiggy branches ; 

 young shoots smooth, or minutely downy, angled ; thorns with three or five, 



