Berberis — Barberry. 1 1 1 



species make excellent preserves and syrups for the table. 

 The roots and sometimes the bark are used for the pro- 

 duction of a yellow dye used in coloring. Both the root 

 and bark, as well as the leaves, are esteemed valuable for 

 their medicinal qualities. A peculiarity of the flower is 

 that some of its parts are possessed of a remarkable 

 degree of irritability, so that if the filaments are touched 

 on the inside with even the point of a needle, the stamens 

 are thrown down upon the stigma, and the petals incline 

 in the same direction, showing what appears to be a wreck 

 of the entire floral structure. But the seeming ruin is 

 not permanent. Equanimity is soon restored, and the 

 several parts slowly resume their places, when the flower 

 lives on as though nothing unusual had occurred. 



The common barberry, Berberis vulgaris, a native of 

 Europe, is usually a low, bushy shrub, but capable of 

 being trained into almost any form desired. It produces 

 its bright yellow flowers in May or June, and they 

 are followed by small, oblong, acid fruit. The branches 

 are provided with sharp spines, and the leaves are also 

 pointed with bristles, making the shrub difficult to han- 

 dle. When planted in rows and properly cut in, it makes 

 an almost impenetrable hedge against man or beast. It 

 is a long-lived plant, notwithstanding its diminutive size. 

 This shrub is so widely distributed throughout the coun- 

 try as to lead to the supposition that it is a native of the 

 soil. But it is not. Having been brought here and 

 planted by our forefathers, it kept pace with the growing 

 population, and having in a measure escaped from civil- 

 ization, it planted itself along the roadsides, passed over 



