16 EVERGREEN BERBERRIES CULTIVATED IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



25. The PRICKLY Berberry. 



Berberis fascicularis, Sims, in Bot. Mag., t. 2396 — alias 

 Mahonia fascicularis, De Cand., Syst. Veg., ii. 19 — alias 

 B. pinnata, Lagasca. Bot. Reg., t. 702 — alias Mahonia 

 diversifolia, Sweet, British Flower Garden, ser. 1, 

 t. 94. 



A species confined, apparently, to the lowlands of California and 

 the north of Mexico. The statement made by Sweet that this 

 is also from Monte Video is, no doubt, some mistake. 



"With much the appearance of the Holly-leaved Berberry, in 

 the Herbarium, this is, I apprehend, a distinct species, when 

 alive distinguishable by its much more prickly leaves, and their 

 want of lucidity, especially on the under side, which is as un- 

 polished as in the Creeping Berberry. It is also more arbores- 

 cent ; its inflorescence is much more compact, and it is far more 

 impatient of cold, not living in the open air near London, except 

 under the shelter of a roofed wall. 



A hybrid, between it and B. aquifolium, exists in cultivation, 

 said to have been raised by Mr. Rivers. It is of a larger growth 

 than the prickly Berberry, and has its compact inflorescence and 

 dull, hard leaves, but all the habit of the Holly-leaved. This 

 Berberis hybrida is a good-looking evergreen, and perfectly 

 hardy. » 



26. The HOLLY-LEAVED Berberry. 



Berberis Aquifolium, Pursh, Fl. Am. Sept., i. 219, t. 4 ; 

 Bot. Reg., t. 1425 — alias Mahonia Aquifolium, De 

 Cand., Prodr., i. 108. 



All over the North-Western parts of N. America, both in the 

 Hudson Bay Company's territory and in Oregon, this plant is 

 found in woods. It does not appear to inhabit California. 



Than this we have no finer evergreen in cultivation. Hardy 

 enough to bear all winters, putting forth its half-transparent 

 rosy foliage in the spring, hardening it into a gloss and texture not 

 inferior to those of the common Holly, and bearing in the 

 autumn enormous quantities of large globular deep purple 

 berries, covered with a bloom that rivals that of the finest raisins, 

 this shrub is certainly one of the most valuable of the numerous 

 species for the introduction of which Europe is indebted to the 

 Horticultural Society. It thrives in sandy or clayey land, in 

 wet places, or on precipices, overshadowed by trees, or exposed 

 unsheltered to the sun. In the latter situation it bears fruit 



