CHAPTER I. 



BAEBERRY.— Berberis. 



NATURAL FAMILY BerbeHdacecB, 

 [Name derived from the Arabic Berbery s. The French name is Epine vinette ; 

 German, Berberitze ; Dutch, Berberisse ; Italian, Berbero ; Spanish, Berberis.] 



Gen'eral Characters. — Shrubs of medium size, with 

 yellow inner bark and wood ; flowers in drooping ra- 

 cemes ; leaves, and fruit, acid. A section of this genus, 

 with evergreen leaves, is called Mahonia. 



SPECIES. 



Berberis vulgaris. — Common Barberry. — Native of 

 Britain, but has become naturalized in the Xew England 

 States ; stems with sharp spines ; leaves obovate-oblong, 

 bristly-toothed ; berries oblong, scarlet. 



Berberis Canadensis. — American Barberry. — Very 

 similar to the last ; the racemes not quite so long. Ber- 

 ries oval, red. Considered by some botanists as only a 

 variety of B, vulgaris. AUeghanies and southward. 



The past summer, in a visit to New Mexico, I found 

 this species in great abundance in the deep canyons, at 

 an elevation of six thousand to eight thousand feet 

 above the sea. It seemed to thrive best along the 

 dry banks and sides of the canyons, among the yuccas 

 and cactuses, where few other plants can survive the long 

 drouths of those regions. Leaves smaller than in B, vul- 

 garis, slightly serrate ; lighter green ; similar in habit, 

 but less robust, perhaps owing to the rigorous climate. 



Berberis Fremonti.— Fremont's Barberry. — A hand- 

 some large evergreen shrub, five to ten feet high, with 

 rigid trifoliate leaves ; leaflets one to two and a half 

 inches long, the middle one usually the longest, some- 

 what cordate at the base, and with more numerous teeth, 

 the lowest pairs situated close at the base. Flowers in 

 clusters of two or three ; berries ovate, dark blue, about 

 the size of small currants. Discovered by Fremont, in 

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