YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 



(blue) jsfa. (white) 



21 



HOLLY-LEAVED BARBERRY 



WILD GOOSEBERRY 



Holly-leaved Barberry (Berberis). The holly- 

 leaved barberry, or as it is sometimes called, Oregon 

 grape, is found abundantly in the Park, creeping along 

 on the ground under the timber, and among the taller 

 shrubs on the sagebrush-covered hillsides. It is, in- 

 deed, so low and sprawling here as hardly to be 

 recognized as a shrub at all. Its leaves are compound, 

 each leaflet closely resembling a leaf of Christmas 

 holly both in its sharp outline and in its stiff, leathery 

 texture. The clusters of small, bright yellow flowers 

 are succeeded by berries which remain green most of 

 the summer, and finally turn blue or purple. 



Wild Gooseberry (Ribes). There are several spe- 

 cies of wild gooseberry in this region, and they are 

 very similar to each other. They resemble the culti- 

 vated variety in most particulars, so that a detailed 

 description is hardly necessary. Their yellow or yel- 

 lowish-green flowers, borne early in the season, are 

 followed by berries that turn purple or black, but are 

 for the most part flat and disagreeable to the 

 taste. Wild currants are found in the canyons 

 and gullies with the gooseberries, and resemble them 

 closely, except that their fruit is borne in stringy 

 clusters instead of singly, and they have no thorns. 



