BERBERIDEiE 



Native of China and Japan; introduced 1766. Specific name from Gr. 

 cheimon, the winter, and anthos, a flower. Syn. Calycanthus prcecox. 



Class I Dicotyledons 



Division I Thalarnifiorce 



Natural Order . . . Berberidece 



Shrubs or herbs with alternate exstipulate leaves and regular flowers ; 

 Calyx petaloid ; Sepals in 2 or more whorls of 2-4 each, imbricate ; Petals 

 hypogynous, in whorls of 2-4 ; Stamens as many as petals, opposite to 

 them, filaments sometimes irritable ; Anthers basifixed, dehiscing by recurved 

 valves ; Ovary 1-celled, of 1 carpel ; Fruit a berry or capsule. 



This Order contains some of our showiest of spring and summer flower- 

 ing shrubs, over forty species being grown at Kew, where there are also 

 fifty slightly different forms of the Common Barberry. The blossoms are 

 of all shades of yellow, and the flowering period ranges from May to 

 October. Most of them will thrive in ordinary garden soil, but the rarer 

 kinds require a compost of two parts loam and one part of peat and sand. 

 Suckers and layers are put down in October ; ripened cuttings in sandy 

 soil in a cold frame in September ; seeds fresh from the pulp or berry in 

 a sheltered border in October or November. 



CORAL BERRY, Berberidopsis cor a /Una. 



This handsome evergreen climbing shrub does well in sandy soil when 

 planted against a south or west wall, and needs protecting with straw or 

 mats in winter, being fairly hardy in the south of England, and half-hardy 

 in the north. Layering is done in autumn ; cuttings inserted in sandy soil in 

 spring ; seeds sown in spring in well-drained pots of sandy soil. 



The deep crimson or coral-red flowers, globular in shape, and hanging 



from long, slender stalks, form a contrast with the dark green foliage, and 



make this a very ornamental shrub. July. 



Flowers deep crimson, in a terminal drooping raceme, leafy at base ; 



13 B 



