BERBERIDACEAE. 



[VOL. II. 



Berberis vulgaris L,. 



European Barberry. (Fig. 1640.) 



Berberis vulgaris 1,. Sp. PI. 330. 1753. 



A glabrous shrub, 6-8 high, the 

 branches arched and drooping at the ends, 

 the twigs gray. Leaves alternate or fas- 

 cicled, obovate or spatulate, unifoliolate, 

 obtuse, thick, i / -2 / long, bristly serrate, 

 many of those on the young shoots re- 

 duced to 3-pronged spines, the fascicles 

 of the succeeding year appearing in 

 their axils; racemes terminating lateral 

 branches, many-flowered, i / -2 / long (3'- 

 4' in fruit); flowers yellow, 3 // -4 // broad 

 with a disagreeable smell; petals entire; 

 berries oblong, scarlet when ripe, acid. 



In thickets, naturalized from Europe in 

 the Eastern and Middle States, adventive in 

 Canada and the West. Native of Europe 

 and Asia, running into numerous forms and 

 varieties. Pepperidge-bush. May-June. 



2. Berberis Canadensis Mill. Ameri- 

 can Barberry. (Fig. 1641.) 



Herberts Canadensis Mill. Card. Diet. Ed. 8, no. 



2. 1768. 



Berberis i>vlgaris var. Canadensis Ait. Hort. 

 Kew. i: 479. 1789. 



A shrub, i-6 high, with slender, reddish- 

 brown branchlets. Leaves similar to those of 

 B. vulgaris, but with more divergent and dis- 

 tant teeth, or sometimes nearly entire. Axil- 

 lary spines 3-pronged; racemes few-flowered; 

 petals conspicuously notched or emarginate at 

 the apex; flowers about 3" broad, berries scar- 

 let, oval or subglobose. 



In woods, mountains of Virginia to Georgia 

 along the Alleghanies, and in Missouri. June. 

 Referred by Regel to B. Sinensis Def., as a va- 

 riety. Readily distinguished fnun all forms of 

 />'. ntlgaris by its dark-colored twigs. 



\ 



3. Berberis Aquifdlium Pursh. 

 Trailing Mahonia. (Fig. 1642.) 



Berberis Aquifolium Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept. 219. 



1814. 



Berberis ref>ens Lindl. Hot. Reg. pi. 1176. 1828. 

 Mahonia repens Don, 'Card. Diet, i: 118. 1831. 



A low trailing glabrous shrub. Leaves 

 petioled, pinnate; leaflets 3-7, ovate, oval, 

 or nearly orbicular, obtuse or acute at the 

 apex, oblique and obtuse, truncate or 

 slightly cordate at the base, sessile, thick, 

 persistent, finely reticulated, dentate with 

 spine-bearing teeth, i'-2' long; racemes 

 several, erect, dense, terminal, many-flow- 

 ered; flowers yellow, $"-4," broad, short - 

 pedicelled; bracts ovate, persistent; berry 

 globose, blue or purple, about 3" in 

 diameter. 



Western Nebraska and throughout the Rocky 

 Mountain, region, extending to .Arizona and 

 British Columbia. April-May. 



