BARBERRY FAMILY. Berberidaceae. 



BARBERRY FAMILY. Berberidaceae. 



Not a large family, widely distributed; shrubs or herbs; 

 leaves alternate or from the root; flowers perfect; sepals 

 and petals few, many, or none, generally in several over- 

 lapping rows; stamens on the receptacle, usually as many 

 as the petals and .opposite them; pistil one, with a short 

 style, or none; fruit a berry or capsule. 



There are several -.kinds of Vancouveria, perennial herbs 

 with slender, creeping rootstocks; named after Vancouver 

 the explorer. 



A charming woodland plant, its airy 

 Inside-out Flower, flower cluster which has much the effect 

 Barrenwort _ . 



Vancouveria * an Alum-root, in beautiful contrast to 



parvi flora the crisp, evergreen foliage. The large 



White, lilac leaves are all from the root, with wiry, 



Spring purplish leaf -stalks and beautifully-shaped 



Wash.,Oreg.,Cal. f _ F 



leaflets, each an inch or more broad, pale 



on the under side, the older leaves dark, rich green, leathery 

 and very glossy and the younger ones bright apple-green 

 and thinner in texture. They form a handsome cluster, 

 varying a good deal in size, and the general effect suggests 

 some very crisp and sturdy sort of Maidenhair Fern. 

 The stern is from one to two feet tall, wiry, purplish, and 

 hairy, and bears a very loose cluster of tiny, drooping, 

 white or lilac-tinged flowers. The six, white sepals 

 resemble petals; the six, white petals are smaller than the 

 sepals, lined with yellow, and there are six to nine bracts, 

 resembling sepals, and six stamens. The minute buds are 

 purplish and the little flowers are exceedingly pretty and 

 odd, when we examine them closely, for the sepals turn 

 back so abruptly from the tiny petals, and from the pro- 

 jecting cluster of stamens, that the name Inside-out Flower 

 is appropriate. The fruit is a kind of capsule with many 

 seeds. This grows in shady woods, especially among 

 redwoods, up to seven thousand feet. V. hexdndra has 

 thinner leaflets, not evergreen, and the leaflets of V. chrys- 

 dniha have white margins. 



152 



