Ord. BERBERIDACEJl. 



Frutices ligno flavo, vel herba?, foliis plerumque eomposi- 

 tis alternis : dicotyledonese, hypogynas, polypetalee, herma- 

 phroditas, symmetrica? ; sepalis petalisque trimeris, aut 2-4- 

 meris, tripli — multiplici serie asstivatione alternatim imbri- 

 catis ; staminibus oppositipetalis ; antherae loculis valvula 

 sursum revoluta dehiscentibus ; ovario unico monocarpellari 

 pauci-multiovulato ; fructu baccato, rarius capsulari ; em- 

 bryone in albumine carnoso vel corneo. 



Berberides, Juss. Gen. p. 286. 



Berbf.ride.c, Vent. R Br.in Tuckey, Voy. p. 411. Endl. Gen. p. 851. 

 Berberiues; & Podophyli,ace.ze, Trib. 1, DC. Syst. & Prodr. 1. c. 

 Berberace* & Podophvlleje, Lindl. Introd. Nat. Syst. ed. 2. 

 BekberidacejE, Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Am. 1. p. 49. 



The Barberky Family, well marked as it is by the imbricative arrange- 

 ment of the floral envelopes, and the stamens in a ternary, or sometimes bi- 

 nary or quaternary order in two series of each set, so that the petals taken 

 together stand opposite as many sepals, and the stamens likewise opposite 

 these, — and also by the valvular dehiscence of the anthers, and the single 

 pistil, — yet presents the following exceptions, in plants which, nevertheless, 

 certainly belong to this order. 1. The anther-cells open by a longitudinal 

 line in Nandina, and also in Podophyllum. 2. In Podophyllum peltatum 

 (but not in P. hexandrum) the stamens are twice the number of the petals. 

 3. In Achlys the stamens are indefinite, the ovule solitary, and the floral 

 envelopes altogether wanting (just as in Trochodendron, Zucc, among 

 Magnoliaceas Wintereae). 4. In Jeffersonia, the sepals (4 or 5 in number) 

 form a single series, and are fewer than the petals. 



The position of the petals and definite stamens in Menispermacese is, of 

 course, to be explained in the same manner as in the Barberry Family ; and 

 this arrangement is not to be confounded with the different case of Vitaceas, 

 &c, where a single series of stamens is opposed to a simple whorl of petals.* 



" The difference has been pointed nui by .Vlr. de Jussieu, Cours Elem />'«' 

 ■ 386, 794 



