14 



B1<:KBKK11)A(:K.K Ikrbv 



Ohdkr TT. BERBERIDACEiE. 



Shrubs or lii'rl)8, iiu/slly witli (Hunpmiinl or diviilod iiltiM'imto IcavM, uml no slip- 

 uloH ; llio ll()\vt<i>i nil iiiiii'crl., with th»i |miis (liMliiict iiml hyiHi^yniHiH, iviuaiKiiMii 

 I'or hiiving tho bmcUs, vsojuils, i)otiils, and staniuiiH (in uura six) hufoi-u each oUicr 

 instead of alternating (an anomaly which comes from there being two whuils 

 of each, three pieces in a whorl), and the 2-celled anthers opening by uplifted 

 valves, hinged at the top. — Calyx and corolla imbricated in the bud, deciduous, 

 both usually colored. Pistil one, simple, i. e. of a single carpel : style short or 

 none. Seeds anatroi)oiis, with a small or iniinito embryo in copious lirni-lleshy or 

 iiurny albumen. — Achli/s is a most oxceplioual genus, having no calyx nur corolla, 

 and or more stamens. 



A small Older of a dozen gum;ia (and half as many more of the Lardizubuleic appfndod to it, 

 not here taken into view), of whirh only lUrUris is numenms in .species, most of the otluTs having 

 only one or two speeies each, chielly natives of temperate regions, and of the northern hemispht.ie, 

 with a few in S. America. The juice is watery, hut the inner hark and wood of the Barherry 

 yellow. No active properties, except in ruduphiillum of the Atlantic States, the root of which 

 yiehh podopkyll in, u powerful cathartic. The fruits, when herries, are innocent and edihle, hut 

 sometimes acid. 



♦ Flowers comploto ; stamens (5, mostly short. 



1. Berberis. Flowers yellow, in clustered racemes. Fruit a few-seeded berry, tshruhs with 



rigitl leaves, in ours odd-pinnate. 



2. Vancouveria. Flowers whitish, in a raceme or panicle. Fruit a follicle. Herb, witli ter- 



nately compound leaves all radical. 



♦ • I'lowers naked : stamens 9 or more, slender. 



3. Achlys. Flowers spicato on a scape, without hracts, sepals, or petals. Herb, with only 



radical 3-parted leaves. 



1. BERBERIS, Linn. 



Sepals 0, petallike, witli 3 or G closely appressod bractlets in 1 or 2 rows. 

 Petals 6, opposite the sepals, usually 2-glandular at base. Stamens 6. Carpel 1 : 

 stigma circular and peltate. Fruit a berry, with 1 to 3 erect seeds. — Smooth 

 shrubs with yellow wood, pinnate or fascicled simple leaves, yellow liuwers in clus- 

 tered bracteate racemes, and oblong or globose acid berries. 



A genus of about 50 sjH-oies, belonging to both continents, but laigely S. American. In 

 Berberis proper, of which B. vulgaris, Linn., the common Barbcrrij, is the type, tlie primary 

 leaves are reduced to mere spines, in the axils of which are fascicles of actual simple leaves with 

 jointed petioles. All our species belong to the .section Mahouia, Nutt., which has evergieen 

 unequally pinnate leaves, sessile spinulosely dentate leaflets, and dark blue globose berries. 



* Leaflets pinnately veined. 



1. B. repens, Lindl. A low somewhat procumbent shrub, loss than a fi)ot 

 high : Icallets 3 io 7, ovate, acute, not acuminat(!, 1 to 2i inches long, not shiny 

 above: racemes few, terminating the steins, 1 to H inches long. — Jiut. Ifeg. t. 

 117(). /)'. Ai/iii/(iliiiiii, I'ursh, mainly, and of ininmrons authors. 



" Through()\it llie Slate," exleiiding northward to liritish Columhia and custward to Colorado 

 and New iMexico. 



2. B. Aquifolium, Pursh. A shrub 2 to 6 feet high : leallets usually 7, but 

 often more, the lower ])air distant from the stem, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, 1^ to 

 4 inches long, acuminate, green and shining above, sinuately dentate with numer- 

 ous spinose teeth : racemes 1 ^- to 2 inches long, clustered chiefly in the subter- 



t. 142n. 



