448 



DOMESTIC BOTANY. 



South Africa, Australia, or Islands of tlie Pacific. They 

 have astringent properties. 



Barberry {Berheris vulgaris). A deciduous shrub, native 

 of Britain and most parts of Europe and of North America, 

 growing to the height of 7 or 8 feet. It is found in dry 

 places, in woods, coppices, and hedges. The pretty bunches 

 of red fruit are well known, and form a pleasant acid pre- 

 serve ; the unripe ones are pickled as a substitute for capers. 

 The bark is of a yellow colour, very astringent, and is used for 

 dyeing and tanning leather. The fruits of the allied Indian 

 species are dried in the sun like raisins. The Barberry is 

 extremely subject to a mildew fungus called u^cidium 

 Berberidis, at one tim3 supposed to be the cause of rust in 

 wheat, which led to its extirpation from hedgerows. But 

 the microscopical examinations of Bauer proved the Bar- 

 berry and wheat funguses to be two distinct species.* 

 The section with pinnate leaves called Mahonia, consists of 

 several species, natives of North Western America, which 

 are ornamental plants in the shrubberies of this country, 

 and in many places are planted as shelter for game. Ber- 

 heris Foriunei and B. Bealei, are natives of China, and differ 

 from the preceding in having single stems and winged 

 leaves, forming small erect trees. 



Nandina domestica. An erect single-stemmed shrub, like 

 a small tree, bearing tufts of compound leaves on its apex, 

 terminated with panicles of flowers, followed by red berries 

 like those of holly. It is a native of China, and at the season 

 in the Chinese religion answering to our Christmas, it is used 

 for decorating houses and altars in temples, and bears the 

 name of Sacred Bamboo. 



In 1862 a plant was introduced under the name of Ber- 

 heridopsis corallina, native of Valdivia, in Chili. It is of scan- 

 dent habit, having simple leaves and pendulous racemes of 

 red flowers, which, as well as the trailing stem and fruit, seem 

 to unite the family Lardizabalacece with that of BerheridacecB. 



* More recent investigations tend to revive the original idea that 

 they are different forms of the same species. 



