580 THE BERBERRY, ELDERBERRY, CORNELIAN CHERRY, 



annually. The nut weevil lays its eggs in the fruit in June, where it is 

 hatched, and escapes in August. There is no practical preventive of this 

 insect, and all that the gardener can do is to remove all the nuts that have 

 been perforated by it. The fruit is gathered when the calyx turns brown, 

 and at a time when it is quite dry, and it may be preserved through the 

 winter with the husks, or in dry sand, or in air-tight vessels. Some put 

 them into large garden-pots, sprinkling a little salt amongst them, which is 

 said to preserve the husks from getting mouldy and rotting ; the pots are 

 turned bottom upwards on boards, and covered with earth or sand to exclude 

 the air. The dealers subject them to the fumes of sulphur in close vessels, 

 when newly gathered and dried, in order to improve the colour of the 

 calyx. 



SuBSECT. XVIII. — The Berberry, Elderberry, Cornelian Cherry, Buffalo-berry, 

 and Winter Cherry. 



1261. The Berberry, Berberis vulgaris, L. (Epine vinette, Fr.; Berbe- 

 ritzen, Ger.; Berberisse, Dutch; Berbero, /to/., and Berberis, Span.; E. 

 B, 49, Arh. Brit. i. p. 298, and Encyc. of Trees and Shrubs, p. 42), is a 

 deciduous shrub, a native of Britain in woods and hedges on dry soil, and 

 sometimes planted in gardens for its fruit ; which is not eaten raw, but is 

 excellent when preserved in sugar, in syrup, or candied. The berries are 

 also made into jelly and rob, both of which are not only delicious to the 

 taste but extremely wholesome, and they are pickled in vinegar when green 

 as a substitute for capers. The}^ are also used instead of lemon for flavouring 

 punch, for garnishing dishes, and for various other purposes, independently of 

 their medicinal properties. When the fruit is to be eaten, there is a variety in 

 which it is largerand less acid, B. vulgaris, var. dulcis,(£'. o/Tr. andSh., p. 43), 

 of which there are plants in the Hort. Soc. Gardens, from which scions may 

 be procured for budding or grafting on the common berberry. For all the 

 other purposes the species may be taken, though for the curious there are 

 varieties with yellow, white, purple, and black-coloured fruit ; and there is 

 one also without seeds, B. v. asperma, of which the delicious confitures 

 d' epine vinette, for which Rouen is so celebrated, are made. 



1262. The Magellan sweet Berberry, Berberis diilcis, D. Don, syn. B. 

 buxifolia, B. rotundifolia, has round black berries about the size of those of 

 the black currant, which are produced in great abundance, and used in its 

 native country, both green and ripe, as we use gooseberries, for pies, tarts, 

 and preserves, for which it is said to be most excellent. (See Arb. Brit. i. 

 p. 301, and E. of Tr. Sh. p. 47.) The plant is evergreen, quite hardy, 

 and very ornamental, flowering from March to June, and ripening its fruit 

 in June and July. It has ripened fruit in the nursery of Mr. Cunning- 

 ham, at Edinburgh, who says, it is as large as the Hamburgh grape, and 

 equally good to eat. 



1268. The Nepal Berberry, B. aristata, Dec, syn. B. Chitria, a native of 

 Nepal, and B. asiatica, Roxb., also from Nepal {Arb. Brit. i. pp. 306, 307, 

 and Encyc. of Trees and Shrubs, p. 49), produce purple fruit covered with a 

 fine bloom, which in Nepal and other parts of India are dried in the 

 sun like raisins, and, like them, brought to table. The plants are quite 

 hardy and fruit abundantly in English gardens, and the amateur of 

 leisure might add them and the Magellan berberry to his collection of hardy 

 fruits. 



