44 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



7 or 8 feet ; but it grows slowly afterwards, unless the suckers are removed 

 from it as they are produced. It is seldom seen above 10 ft. high ; but there 

 are examples of trees of it 30 ft. high, probably of 30 years' growth. The 

 inner bark, both of the stems and roots, aiFords a yellow dye. The leaves are 

 agreeably acid, and, according to Gerard, were used in his time " to season 

 meat with, and instead of a salad, like sorrel." The berries are so acid, that 

 birds seldom touch them. They are not eaten raw. but are excellent when 

 preserved with sugar in syrup, or candied. They are also made into jelly and 

 rob, both of which are not only delicious to the taste, but extremely whole- 

 some ; and they are pickled in vinegar, when greein, as a substitute for capers. 

 The plant is cultivated in gardens as a fruit tree or fruit shrub ; and the 

 variety, or rather variation, in which the seeds are said to be wanting, and 

 that in which the fruit is sweet, are recommended in preference. The plant 

 makes an excellent hedge ; but there exists a prejudice against it among agri- 

 culturists, from its supposed influence in producing blight, or mildew, on the 

 corn adjoining it. This opinion is of unknown antiquity ; but it is now ge- 

 nerally considered to be an erroneous prejudice. 



3fe 3. B. (v.) EMARGiNA^TA WUld. The emixrgmate-petaled Berberry. 



Identification. Willd. Enum., 1. p. 395. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 105. ; Don's Mill, 1. p. 115. 

 Synonyme. Ausgerandete (serrated) Bcrberitze, Ger. 

 Engravings. Hayne Abbild., t. 62. ; and Q\xr figs. 55. and 56. 



Siiec. Char., S^c. Spines 3-parted. Leaves lanceolate-obovate, ciliately serrated. 



Racemes scarcely pendulous, shorter 

 than the leaves ; petals 

 (Do7i''s Mill.) A vs 

 deciduous shrub. 



w 



emargmate. 



-yy^ Siberia, 

 '""^'"oft. to 7 ft. 



Height 

 Intro- 



B/rheris emarpinjita. 



b5' B^rbfrii emarginita. 



duced in 1820, 

 Flowers yellow ; A 

 May and June. ^ * 

 Berries red ; ripe 

 . in September. De- 

 caying leaves yel- 

 low. Naked young 

 wood whitish yel- 

 low. 



Closely resembling D. vulgaris, of 

 which it is, doubtless, only a variety; but it is one half smaller in all its parts, 

 and has the petals emarginate, and the leaves decidedly (,glaucous. 



J* 4. B. (v.) cre'tica L. The Cretan Berberry. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 47?.; 



Dec. Prod. 1. p.lOG.; Don's 



Mill., 1. p. 115. 

 Synonymes. B. cretica 6uxi- 



f61ia Tourn. ; Vincttier de 



Crete, Fr. ; Cretische Ber- 



beritze, Ger. \ Candian 



Berberry. 

 Engravings. Fl.GrSEC.,t.242.; 



and our^^i. 57. and 58. 



Spec. Char., S^-c. Spines 

 3 5-parted. Leaves 

 oval-oblong, entire, 

 or somewhat serrat- 

 ed. Racemes 3 8-' 

 flowrd., rather short 

 er than the leaves 



B^.-bens cuStiji 



Birberis rretica, Tiat.sizo. 



