CHAP. VII 1. 



BERBERA'CEJE. BE'RBERIS. 



303 



corn. The berberry mildew, when magnified, is found to consist of a number of 

 small orange cups, with a white film over each. When ripe these films burst, 

 and the tops of the cups assume a ragged uneven appearance, in which state 

 they look like white -Fungi. The cups are filled with 

 innumerable little cases, containing seeds, or sporules, 

 and these constitute the bright orange powder that 

 is seen on the leaves and flowers of the common ber- 

 berry. " Among the many beautiful objects that are 

 to be met with in the lower and more imperfect tribes 

 of plants," Dr. Lindley observes, " it is difficult to find 

 one more worthy of an attentive examination than the 

 ^cidium Berberidis." The blight on corn is generally 

 a species of 6^redo, and does not correspond in bo- 

 tanical characters with the ./Ecldium, 



Propagation and Culture. The original species is propagated in the nur- 

 series by seeds, and the varieties by suckers. For ordinary purposes, no plant 

 requires less culture ,- but, to produce large fruit, it should be planted in a deep, 

 well manured, somewhat calcareous soil, and be constantly freed from side 

 suckers. The racemes of the blossoms, also, should be thinned out, in order 

 by reducing the number of bunches of fruit, to increase its size. When the 

 berberry is intended to become an ornamental tree, it should be trained with 

 a straight stem to the height of 8 ft. or 10 ft., and then sufiered to branch out, 

 thinning out the shoots where necessary, and destroying every sucker as it ap- 

 pears. So treated, it forms a singularly beautiful small tree, of great duration. 



Diseases, Sfc. The common berberry is very subject to the mildew, ^Ecidium 

 Berheridis Pers., before described. 



Statistics. The berberry is to be found in all European gardens that pretend 

 to have a complete collection of fruit trees, and in most shrubberies. The 

 original species is to be procured in all nurseries, and the varieties in some of 

 them. Seedlings of the species, in the London nurseries, are 8s. a thousand ; 

 and transplanted plants 25s. a thousand : at Bollwyller, the varieties are a 

 franc each ; plants of the species, 50 cents each : in New York, ?. 



3. B. canade'nsis Mill. The Canadian Berberry. 



Identification. Pursh's Fl. Amer., Sept., 1. p. 219. ; Nutt. Gen. Amer., 1. 210. : Dec. Prod.. 1 p. 106 ; 



Don's Mill, 1. p. 115. > i- > 



Si/nonymes. B. vulgaris Mx. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1 . p. 205. ; B. vulgaris var. canadensis Martyn's 



Mill., rso. 1. 



Engravings. Hayne Abbild., t. 63. ; and our Jig. 48. after that author. 



Spec. Char., 4'^. Spines 3-parted, Leaves obovate-oblong, 

 remotely serrated, upper ones nearly entire. Racemes ' 

 many-flowered, nodding. (Bon's Mill., i. p. 1 15.) A shrub, 

 or low tree, with yellow flowers, from April to June. Cul- 

 tivated in 1759. Height 5 ft. It is found in North Ame- 

 rica, on fertile hills and among rocks, especially in the \ 

 Alleghany Mountains, from Canada to Carolina, and also | 

 in Tennessee. The berries are said by Pursh to be more v\ 

 fleshy and less acid than those of B. vulgaris. The same 

 opinion prevails in the United States as in England, as 

 to the berberry producing mildew on wheat. From the 

 appearance of this alleged species in the garden of the London Horticultural 

 Society, we_ are induced to consider it only a variety of B. vulgaris. De 

 Candolle thinks it for the most part intermediate between B. vulgaris and 

 B. chinensis. Plants, in London, are Is. Gd. each ; at Bollwyller, 1 franc ; 

 and in New York, 15 cents, 



Sfe 4. S.ebiargixXa'ta Willd. The emarginated-^jeto/<?(/ Berberry. 



Irientification. Willd. Enum., 1. p. 395. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 105. ; Don's MiU., 1. p. 115. 

 Synonymc. Ausgerandete (serrated) Berberitze, Ger. 

 Engravings. Hayne Abbild., t. 62. ; and omfig. 49. 



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



