222 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



by unnoticed. It should be planted in the pleasure-grounds. B. vulgaris 

 brachybotrys and B. v. macrocarpa are attractive at flowering-time. B. 

 v. amurensis has glowing scarlet berries, which are borne with great 

 freedom during the autumn. It is of good growth. Another variety of 

 the common Barberry noted for its beauty is named asperma ; it is very 

 bright, with strings of scarlet berries, and is a shrub of upright habit. 

 B. Thunbergii is the most brilliant autumn coloured Barberry grown, and 

 was introduced from Japan. It is an excellent shrub for small gardens, 

 as it seldom grows more than three feet high. It bears small drooping 

 flowers, and in autumn its leaves are aglow with subtle shades of orange, 

 chocolate brown, crimson, &c. Few shrubs have such autumn foliage 

 as this. B. sinensis, a Chinese species, is very free and pretty in autumn 

 when laden with its showy fruits, at which time its brilliant crimson 

 leaves stand out conspicuously in the shrubbery. It is of dense, bushy 

 growth. B. aristata, from Nepaul, has reddish-coloured bark, and 

 creates a pretty picture in winter. It grows six feet high, with stiff 

 branches and bright green leaves. The rich yellow flowers, borne in 

 racemes, are succeeded by scarlet berries, and these alone entitle it to 

 consideration. B. virescens is another Barberry with brightly-coloured 

 bark, and makes an effective winter shrub by the water side. B. wallichiana 

 is quite distinct from all the foregoing. Free in growth, delightful 

 in blossom, it forms a neat, much-branched bush, with clusters of shining 

 leaves and masses of drooping flowers. 



Darwin's Barberry (B. Darwinii) is the best-known member of the 

 evergreen group, and certainly one of the most useful. It is serviceable 

 for hedge-making, and when grown in masses on a sunny bank the 

 effect at flowering-time is magnificent. It grows from six to twelve feet 

 in height, with strong shoots clothed with small glossy green leaves, 

 and from about the middle of April to the end of May bears great 

 quantities of orange-yellow flowers in rather short drooping racemes. 

 B. congestiflora hakeoides, an uncommon early-flowering Barberry, bears 

 deep yellow flowers profusely. It is of sturdy habit, rather slow in 

 growth, and dislikes dull, shady positions. For general effect none 

 surpass B. stenophylla either in graceful outline, abundance or beauty 

 of flower. It is a hybrid raised between Darwin's Barberry and B. 

 empetrifolia, a small-leaved, trailing, rock-garden shrub. The progeny is 

 of excellent growth, with very long arching shoots and narrow deep 

 green leaves, and during May and June produces a wonderful profusion 

 of dainty yellow flowers. B. bmifolia, also known as B. dulcts, has 

 large, drooping, light yellow flowers and tiny, deep green, box-like leaves. 

 This showy Chilian shrub is, unfortunately, seldom met with outside 

 good collections of trees and shrubs. B. Aquifolium, known also as 

 Mahonia Aquifolium, is quite common. It is an ornamental berry- 

 producing plant, and the autumn and winter colouring of its leaves is 

 charming. It is a valuable shrub for planting beneath the shade of 

 trees. The varieties rotundifolia and fascicularis are handsome too. 

 B. japonica is distinct, vigorous, and very ornamental. It produces a 

 strong stem and large spiny leaves, composed of many leaflets and sweet- 



