CHAP. VIII. 



BERBERA^CEJE. BE'RBERIS. 



301 



A. Leaves thin, decidimis. Flowers soUtarij. 

 ^ \. B. sibi'rica Pall. The Siberian Berberi-y. 



Iden/ificatmi. Pall. Fl. Ross., 2. p. 42. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 108. ; Don's 



Mill., 1. p. 117. ; Pen. Cyc, 4. p. 260. 

 Rynonymes. B. a\tk\c.a Pall. ; Vinettier de Sib^rie, Fn 

 Engravings. Pall. Fl. Ross., 2. t. 67. ; and our^^. 46. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Spines 3 — 7-parted. Leaves ianceolate- 

 obovate, ciliately serrated. Peduncles 1-flowered, shorter 

 than the leaves. (Dofi's Mill., i. 117.) — A small shrub, ^fs: <^^w 

 found in rocky places, on the hills and lower mountains ^ 

 of Altai, Siberia, &c., and introduced into England by ^ 

 Pallas in 1790. Pallas states that the priests of the ""^^ I ^ 

 Mongols, who also act as physicians, being taught by if 

 the Tunguti, use the bark of the trunk and the yellow ^"'^^^k^w^ 

 pulpy matter of the root for various diseases ; and that ^ 'Oi^^ 

 a decoction of the young twigs is sometimes applied T 

 with a pencil to the eyes as a charm. In British gardens 1 ,f] Jr 

 this species is a low scrubby bush, seldom exceeding ^^^^ 

 2 ft. in height. Price, in London, 105. 6d. each. + 



B. Leaves thin, mostly deciduous. Flowers in Racemes. 



s 2. B. vuLGA^Ris L. The common Berberry. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 472. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 105. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 115. 



Synonymes. Pipperidge Tree , Br. Turner ; E'pine vinette, Fr. ; gemeine Berberitze, Ger. 



Engravings. Eng. Bot., t. 49. ; Willd. Baum., t. 39. ; E. of PL, 4922. 



Spec. Char. Spines 3-parted. Leaves somewhat obovate, ciliately serrated. 



Racemes many-flowered, pendulous. Petals entire. {Don's Alill., i, p. 1 15.) 

 Varieties. These are numerous. Those recognised by De CandoUe and G. 

 Don are as follows : — 



B. V. 2 lutea. The 3/<?//ozy-fruited common Berberry. — Fruit yellow. 

 ^ B. V. 3 alba. The white-imited. common Berberry. — Fruit white. 

 S£ B. «. 4 violdcea. The z^io/g-^-coloured-fruited common Berberry. — Fruit 

 violaceous. 



& B. 5 jourpurea. The purple-^rmteA common Berberry. — Fruit purple, 



leaves narrow, hardly ciliated. B. innominata Kielm. 

 36 B. V. 6 nigra. The black-hmted common Berberry. — Fruit black ; leaves 

 oblong, ciliately serrated, serratures few. The fruit of this plant 

 is said by Tournefort, who found it on the banks of the Euphrates, 

 to be of delicious flavour, 

 36 B. t). 7 dulds. The szt'e'd?^-fruited common Berbeny. — Fruit red, some- 

 what less acid than that of the common berberry. Leaves of a bright 

 shining green. Native of Austria. 

 m B. V. 8 asperma. The seedless Bcrbeiry. — Fruit destitute of seeds. Miller, 

 and also Du Hamel, both say that suckers taken from this variety com- 

 monly produce fruit with seeds; that, as the tree grows older, the 

 seeds become fewer, and that it is the age of the plant that at last 

 causes the fruit to be seedless ; in that case this plant must be con- 

 sidered more a variation than a variety. B. v. asperma is said by 

 Du Hamel to produce the best fruit for preserving ; and it is from it 

 that the delicious Confitures d'E^j^''"^ vinette, for which Rouen is so 

 celebrated, are made. (jVov, Duh., iv. p. 13.) Price, 2s. 6d. each. 

 All these varieties are in the garden of the London Horticultural Society. 



Other Varieties. Dr. Lindley says, that " there is in the Catalogues a Ca- 

 nadian berberry, which appears to be nothing more than a common berberry, 

 brought from North America ; and also Berberis daiirica and altaica, 

 neither of which merits to be distinguished from B. vulgaris." 

 Description. In a wild state, the common berberry is seldom found higher 

 than 4 ft. or 5 ft., but in a state of culture it may be grown to nearly 30 ft. 



