BERBERIS 
153 
Family 5. BERBERIDACEAE 
Berberidaceae Lindley (as Berberaceae ) Nat. Arr. 29 (1836); Prantl in Pflanzenfam. iii, pt. 2, 70 (1891); 
Berberideae Jussieu Gen. PI. 286 (1789); Ventenat Tabl. iii, 83 (1799). 
Shrubs or perennial herbs. Leaves radical or alternate, compound, sometimes apparently simple. 
Inflorescence terminal or axillary. Flowers bracteate. Sepals n + n, these constituting the primitive 
perianth, petaloid, caducous, imbricate in bud. Petals n + n, usually with nectaries near the base 
on the inside, imbricate in bud. Stamens n + n, hypogynous, antipetalous. ( n—T, or 2.) Anthers 
adnate, introrse, usually opening by “valves” at the back (cf. Lauraceae), but the “valve” with its 
pollen moves upwards and round so that the pollen eventually faces the centre of the flower. Ovary 
superior, of 1 carpel, unilocular ; stigma orbicular. Ovules 1 — 00 , if few basal, if 00 ventral. Fruit 
either a berry or dry and dehiscent. Embryo straight or nearly so. Radicle pointing towards the 
hilum. Endosperm copious. Cotyledons short. 
9 genera and about 100 species; extra-tropical Europe, N. Africa, Asia, and N. America. 
British genera of Berberidaceae 
Genus 1. Berberis (see below). Shrubs or undershrubs, with spines or prickly leaves. In- 
florescences on short lateral shoots. Flowers trimerous. Fruit a berry, 1 — 3-seeded. 
Genus 2. # Epimedium (p. 154). Herbs. Inflorescences terminal. Flowers dimerous. Fruit 
dry, dehiscent. 
Genus 1. Berberis 
Berberis [Tournefort Inst. 614, t. 385 (1700);] L. Sp. PI. 330(1753) et Gen. PI. ed. 5, 153 (1754); Prantl 
Pflanzenfam. iii, pt. 2, 74 et 77 (1891). 
Spiny shrubs. Stem with yellow wood. Leaves of the long shoots often modified into spines 
which are usually branched, of the short shoots foliar and petioled. Bracteoles 3, alternating with 
and smaller than the outer whorl of sepals. Flowers trimerous. Petals each with 2 nectaries near 
the base. Stamens irritable. Style absent. Stigma peltate. Ovules few, basal, erect. Fruit a berry, 
ovate to subspherical, with 1 or 2 seeds. Seeds elliptical. Testa crustaceous. Embryo large. 
British species of Berberis 
1. *B. aquifolia (see below). Branches without leaf-spines. Laminae pinnate, pinnae prickly. 
Raceme terminal. Flowers nodding. Petals bidentate at the apex. 
2. B. vulgaris (see below). Branches with leaf-spines. Laminae apparently simple, pinna 
not prickly. Racemes lateral, drooping. Flowers spreading. Petals entire. 
1. ‘BERBERIS AQUIFOLIA 
Berberis aquifolia Pursh Ft. Amer. Sept, i, 219, t. 4 (1814); Makonia aquifolia Nuttall Gen. North 
Amer. PI. i, 212 (1818); Fedde in Engler’s Bot. Jahrb. xxxi, 84 (1902); Tischler in Engler’s Bot. Jahr. xxxii, 
642 (1902). 
leones : — Lindley in Bot. Reg. xvii, t. 1425. 
Exsiccata : — Fendler {PI. Nov.-Mex.), 14. 
Undershrub, with evergreen shiny leaves. Laminae pinnate; pinnae sessile, oblong-ovate, margin 
spinose-dentate, apex rather acute ; usually copper-coloured, especially in spring. Raceme terminal, 
many-flowered. Flowers nodding ; March to May. Sepals petaloid, 6, spreading, the 3 outer ones 
smaller than the 3 inner ones, dark red outside, yellow inside. Petals yellow, 6, bidentate at the apex. 
Naturalised in shrubberies and hedgerows, especially in the lowlands of southern and central England. 
North America (western). 
2. BERBERIS VULGARIS. Barberry. Plate 164 
Spina acida sive oxyacantha Gerard Herball 1144 (1597); B. dumetorum Ray Syn. ed. 3, 465 (1724). 
Berberis vulgaris L. Sp. PI. 330 (1753); Smith Eng. Bot. no. 49 (1792); Ft. Brit. 387 (1800); Syme 
Eng. Bot. i, 71 (1863); Rouy et Foucaud Ft. France i, 147 (1893); Tischler in Engler’s Bot. Jahrb. xxxi, 605 
(1902). 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 49; Ft. Dan. t. 904; Sv. Bot. t. 24; Reichenbach Icon, iii, t. 18, fig. 4486. 
M. ill. 
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