THE TAMARISK. 267 



ways, are made into jelly, comfits, cooling drinks, and 

 pickles. For these purposes a variety is preferred which 

 bears seedless berries. 



A notion was formerly prevalent that the Barberry 

 caused mildew or rust in corn, and consequently many 

 persons destroyed it whenever it was found growing near 

 arable land. Botanists, however, have sufficiently proved 

 that the orange -coloured mildew which infests the leaves 

 of the Barberry, though nearly of the same colour as the 

 mildew of corn, is totally different from it, and cannot be 

 transferred to any other plant. 1 It is, therefore, to be 

 hoped that the Barberry will be allowed to retain its place 

 as a hedge- shrub, for which its habit of growth and 

 numerous stout prickles admirably adapt it. 



Several foreign species of Barberry are cultivated in 

 gardens ; some of which, from the north-west coast of 

 North America, are among the most ornamental evergreen 

 shrubs that have ever been introduced. These are placed 

 by some botanists in a distinct genus, Mahonia, but with 

 questionable propriety. 



THE TAMARISK. 



TAMARIX GALLICA. 



Natural Order TAMABISCINE^:. 



Class PENTANDBIA. Order TKIGYNIA. 



THE Tamarisk is a native of most of the countries of 

 Southern Europe, Asia Minor, Tartary, Japan, Barbary, 

 and Arabia, assuming a great variety of forms, according 

 to the soil, situation, and climate in which it grows. It 



1 " The mildew of wheat is not produced by a superficial fungus 

 like an Erisyphe (the rust of the Barberry), but an intestinal 

 fungus of the genus Puccinia , and, consequently, to place such 

 leaves among wheat is not likely to injure it." Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, 



