ORDER VI. BERBERTDACE^. 215 



4. A shrub Berberi*. 1 



An herbaceous plant Leontice. 2 



5. Stamens 4 Crown la. 6 



Stamens 8 Jeffarsonia. 4 



Genus I— BER'BERIS. L. 6—1. Barberry. 

 (From berberi*, the Arabian name of the fruit.) 



Sepals 6, generally bracteolate. Petals 6, with 2 glands at 

 the base of each. Stamens 6, irritable, flying up on being 

 touched at the base. Stigma sessile, orbicular, depressed. 

 Fruit a berry, 1 -celled, 1 — 9-seeded, seeds erect. 



1. B. Canadensis, (Pursh.) Branches thickly dotted, numerous, an- 

 gular, when young, yellow, glabrous. Leaves simple, obovate, with 

 remote spine-like serratures, obtuse, mucronate, cuneate at the base, 

 glabrous, by pairs on young shoots, clustered on the summits of the 

 last year's buds. Flowers in racemes, 6 — S-flowered. Sepals ovate, 

 acute. Petals ovate, emarginate, with 2 purple glands. Berry oval, 

 red, acid. Yellow. U- April. Mountains. 1—3 feet. 



The Barberry of the gardens (which is the European variety) differs in some respects 

 from the B. Canadensis above described. The berries are larger and more juicy. It 

 is cultivated for the berries and bark ; the former are sour, and are used for their grate- 

 ful acid flavor. They are used in preparing drinks in febrile diseases, and are said to 

 be antiscorbutic. The bark is used in medicine for jaundice, and in the arts for dye- 

 ing yellow. The coloring matter is a crystallizable substance called berberin. 



Genus II.— LEON'TICE. L. 6—1. Cohosh. 



(Abridged from Leontopetalon, which is derived from leon, a lion, and petalon, 

 a leaf, because the leaf of the L. leontopetalon is said to bear some resemblance to a 

 lion's foot.) 



Sepals 6, colored. Petals 6, opposite the calyx, bearing a 

 reniform scale within. Stamens G, opposite the petals. Carpel 

 stipitate, 2 — 4-seeded ; seeds erect, globose. 



1. L. thalictroi'des, (Linn.) Stem simple, glabrous. Leaves 8-ter- 

 nate, leaflets ovate, oblique at the base, terminal one broadest, petiol.ite, 

 radical ones with long petioles, cauline ones sessile, lower 3-ternate, 

 upper smaller, and 2-ternate. Leaflets incisely lobed. Flowers small, 

 in panicles. Seeds oval, dark blue, stiped. — Greenish yellow. ^ . 

 April. Upper districts of Car. and Geo. 12 — 14 in. Pappoose Root. 



Genus III— DIPHYLLE'IA. Mich. 6—1. 

 (From the Greek dis, double, and phullon, leaf.) 



Sepals 3, deciduous. Petals 6, without glands. Stamens 

 6, opposite the petals ; anthers oblong, 2-celled. Ovary ovate, 

 eccentric ; stigma subsessile, peltate. Fruit baccate, 1-celled, 

 2 — 3-seeded ; seeds reddish. 



1. D. cymo'sa, (Mich.) Root perennial, thick. Stem herbaceous, 

 erect. Leaves alternate, usually 2 on each stem, peltate, deeply 2-lobed, 

 lobes angled, each division 7 — 9-lobed, serrate. Flowers in a terminal 

 cyme. Petals oval. Style short. — White. U. June. Mountain*. 

 1—2 feeL 



