BERBERIDACE. 73 
Rollesby. The reason of this apparent blight on wheat in certain situations, and its 
connection with the Barberry-bushes in the neighbourhood, has puzzled many observers. 
Some attribute it to the farina of the Barberry, which is yellow, and resembles in 
some degree the appearance of rust; and others have suggested that a little yellow 
fungus which attacks the leaves of the Barberry may spread to the ears of wheat. 
More recent Botanists have remarked that insects of various kinds are remarkably fond 
of the flowers of the Barberry, and in this way the pollen may be conveyed to other 
plants, and produce the appearance of mildew; or it is said that the Aucidium Berberidis, 
its particular fungus, may generate the dust which, carried from the bush by the wind 
and lighting on the wheat, gives rise to Puccinia, a minute fungus, which closes up the 
pores of the leaves, and produces the rust or mildew. M. Broussonet, the celebrated 
French naturalist, who directed his attention particularly to agriculture, assured Sir 
J. E. Smith that the report of the ill effects caused by the proximity of Barberries to 
corn-fields is, from his own observation, totally void of foundation. 
GENUS IT—EPIMEDIUM. Linn. 
Sepals deciduous, petaloid, 8, in 2 whorls, those in the outer 
whorl smaller and less coloured. Petals 4, extremely concave, the 
concavity produced so as to form a hollow conical cup, deeper than 
wide, and attached by the lower edge of the lip; sepals and petals 
opposite. Stamens 4; anthers with 2 valves opening upwards. 
Carpel solitary. Style reaching to the top of the stamens, with a 
small discoid stigma. Ovules numerous, in 2 rows along the 
ventral suture. Fruit membranous, irregularly ovoid, tipped by 
the terminal style, splitting into two valves, of which the inner one 
isthe smaller. Seeds large, oblong, with the raphe much enlarged 
at the base. Embryo slightly curved. 
Herbs with a creeping rhizome. Leaves radical, or on the short 
stem, biternate, ternate, or pinnate. 
SPECIES I—EPIMEDIUM ALPINUM. Linn. 
Prate LIT.* 
Reich. Ic. Fl. Germ. et Helv. Vol. III. Pap. Tab. XVIII. Fig. 4485. 
Stem leaves 1 or 2, biternate. Leaflets ovate, heart-shaped. 
Sepals ovate, rather acute. Style a little overtopping the anthers. 
Naturalized in a few places in the North of England and Scot- 
land; Bingley Woods, Yorkshire; on Carrick Fell and Skiddaw, 
* The Plate is E. B. 438, with the dissections corrected and the fruit added by 
Mr. J. E. Sowerby. 
L 
