RED OR REDDISH PURPLE 37 



the slightest touch. Both the hive bee and the 

 humblebee come to the flower in quest of the 

 honey which is produced by the saffron-colored 

 swellings on the petals and in getting it are 

 almost sure to touch the base of the stamens. 

 These spring up and cover the head and parts of 

 the fore legs and proboscis of the bee with 

 pollen. 



"All down the loose-walled lanes in archin' bowers, 

 The barb'ry droops its strings o' golden flowers, 

 Whose shrinkin' hearts the school-girls love to try 

 With pins, — they'll worry yourn so, boys, bimeby ! '' 

 — Lowell's SuntliiiV in the Pastoral Line. 



The peasants of Europe, long before science ex- 

 plained the phenomenon, declared that barberry 

 bushes caused wheat to rust. The fungus caus- 

 ing wheat rust often lives but part of its life on 

 wheat. There is one stage of its growth which 

 takes place on leaves of the barberry. Its pres- 

 ence there is manifested by groups of little 

 orange-colored cups, called " cluster cups/' wdiich 

 grow on the under surface of the leaf. 



The state legislature of Massachusetts, as early 

 as 1760, passed — 



" An Act to prevent Damage to English Grain 

 arising from Barberry Bushes." 



