DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF FLOWERING SHRUBS. 401 
BERBERIS,—BARBERRY OR BERBERRY. 
(Derived from the Arabic name for this plant.] 
Bérberis vulg4ris——Common Barberry.—This shrub is 
too common about Boston; but where it is not found 
growing in such profusion, it will most assuredly be con- 
sidered a valuable acquisition to the shrubbery.* It has 
often been said, and generally believed, that Barberry 
bushes were prejudicial to rye, causing it to blast; but 
this is not our experience, having grown heavy crops of 
this grain with Barberry bushes on all sides of the field. 
Loudon says: —“B. vulgaris is at once an ornamental 
shrub, a fruit tree, a hedge plant, a dye, a drug, and a re- 
puted enemy to the corn farmer. When covered with 
flowers in the spring, or with fruit in autumn, it is a fine 
object. Every one, who is an observer of nature, must 
have been struck, in May or June, with the beauty of 
the upper arching shoots of the Barberry, springing from 
amass of rich green, and sustaining numerous pendant 
racemes of splendid yellow flowers. It is hardly less at. 
tractive when its blossoms have been succeeded by the 
cluster of scarlet fruit in autumn.” The leaves are of a 
blueish-green, and gratefully acid to the taste. The smell 
of the flower is offensive when near, but pleasant at a cer- 
tain distance. The berries are so very acid, that birds 
seldom touch them. They are sometimes pickled and 
used for garnishing dishes, or when boiled with sugar, 
form a most agreeable jelly. The roots boiled in lye, 
yield a yellow color. There is a variety or species with 
purple foliage, which is desirable in large collections. 
B. dilcis.—Sweet-fruited Barberry, is more dwarf in 
habit, the foliage more delicate, and almost evergreen; 
the flowers dark orange, scattered along the branches, 
among the foliage. It is a pretty plant, but I have 
found that it is not perfectly hardy here; but in England, 
