42 DESCRIPTIVE BOTANY. 



Etymology. — Clematts, the generic name, is from the Greek word K\rifxa, a 

 tendril, on account of the climbing habit of this genus. VerticiUaris, Latin, 

 is due to the mode in which the leaves are borne, in whorls. Viorna, Latin, via, 

 the way, and onio, adorn — beautifier of the way. Pitcheri, for Dr. Pitcher, 

 who first found it in these limits. Cylindrka, round, is due to the cylindrical 

 shape of the calyx. Virginiana, Virginian Clematis. 



Use. — Nearly all the species of this genus are ornamental, and are culti- 

 vated for their beauty. 



Order II. BERBERIDACE^. 



Shrubs or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate and exstipulate. 



Flowers regular, mostly 3-merous 

 and hypogynous ; sepals and petals 

 imbricated in the bud. Stamens 

 equal in number to the petals, and 

 opposite to them. Anthers mostly 

 opening by valves, hinged at the 

 top. (In the Podophyllum, by 

 slits.) One pistil ; style short, or 

 wanting. Fruit a berry or cap- 

 sule. Seeds numerous. 



No. of genera, 19. Species, 100. 



BERBERIS.L. (Barberry.) Leaves 

 1-9 foliate. Sepals roundish, 6 in 

 number, enveloped by 2-6 bract- 

 lets. Petals 6, each with a short 

 claw, above which, on the inside, 

 are two glandular spots. Stamens 0, 

 irritable ; stigma circular and flat- 

 tened. Fruit a sour berry, 1-several 

 seeded. Seeds erect, with a crus- 



taceous covering. Shrubs. Wood yellow. Flowers in nodding racemes, 



sometimes drooping. Fruit a sour berry. 



B. vulgaris, L. (Barberry.) Leaves few on the new shoots of the season, 

 nsnally merely branched spines from whose axils the leaves of the next season 

 arise in rosettes, of obovate oblong, bristled, toothed, drooping, many-flowered 

 racemes ; petals entire ; berries oblong, scarlet. Thickets and near dwellings. 

 Eastern New England. May to June. From Europe. 



Geographj. — Native of Europe, naturalized in New England. B. canaden- 

 sis, native in the AUeghenies, a curious and interesting plant. 



Etymology. — Name from the Arabic, Berbery s. 



Use, — A favorite ornamental shrub. The fruit is preserved, and the inner 

 bark is held to be medicinal. 



PODOPHYLLUM, L. (May Apple. Mandrake.) Early floral envelope 

 composed of thre"e foliaceous bracts ; 6 petaloid sepals, petals 6 to 9. 

 Stamens double the number of petals. Anthers linear ; stigma large, 



Berberis vulgaris (Barberry). 



