ORDER VI. BERBERIDEÆ.—THE BERBERRY TRIBE.
Fig. 107.—Details of the flower and fruit of the common Berberry, partly magnified.
Each flower of the common Berberry (Berberis vulgaris) has on the outside three little bracteal scales, which are reddish on the back, and soon fall off. The flower itself consists of a corolla of six petals, and a calyx of six sepals, though as these divisions are all of the same size and shape, and of the same colour and texture, it is not very easy to distinguish the calyx from the corolla. The petals will however be found on examination to have each two little glands at the base, as shown at a in fig. 107, which the sepals are without. The sepals are placed exactly behind the petals, so that the one appears a lining of the other; and, being concave, the petals serve as a kind of cradle to the stamens, as shown at b. There are six stamens, which have broad filaments; and instead of anthers the filaments are widened at the tip, and each contains two cases for the pollen (c); these cases are each furnished with a valve-like lid (d), which opens and curls back when the pollen is ripe. The pistil (e) is pitcher-shaped, with a very thick style, and a flat stigma. It stands erect, while the stamens are spread out so as to be a long way from it, but they are so irritable that the slightest touch makes them spring forward and discharge their pollen on the stigma, afterwards falling back into their former places. The flowers are yellow, and they are produced in long drooping racemes; and they are succeeded by red oblong berries (f), each of which contains two seeds (g). The receptacle, with the stamens growing out of it from beneath the pistil, is shown at i. The common Berberries are all deciduous shrubs, with simple leaves, which are produced in tufts, as shown in fig. 108, each leaf being delicately fringed with hair-like teeth. Each tuft of leaves has two or three sharply-pointed stipules, which are easily distinguished from the leaves, by their margins being without teeth; and below these are three spines, which, when young, are soft and look like folded leaves, but which, when older, be come hard, and sharply pointed. These spines are considered by some botanists to be abortive branches. There are many different kinds of Berberry, which differ principally in the size of the flowers and in the colour of the fruit; but which also vary in the size and shape of the leaves, and in the manner in which they are toothed.
Fig. 108.—Flowers of the Berberry, natural size.
The Ash-leaved Berberries were formed into a separate genus called Mahonia by Nuttall; and this genus has been adopted by Professor de Candolle, and other botanists. Dr. Lindley, however, includes all the species in the genus Berberis, and he has been followed by Mr. George Don in his new edition of Sweet’s Hortus Britannicus. Whether the genus Mahonia be a good one or not, the plants composing it are very distinct from the true Berberries. The leaves of the Mahonias are evergreen, and pinnate; and the leaflets instead of being fringed with fine hairs, are broadly serrated, the points being tipped by a sharp prickle or mucro (see a in fig. 109); and the petiole is articulated, and somewhat stem-clasping at the base (b). The flowers are in erect racemes, and smaller than those of the Berberry; they are also more globular, being less widely opened, and the petals are without any glands. The filaments of the stamens have two hair-like teeth just below the lobes of the anthers; and the fruit has from three to nine seeds in each berry; while the Berberries have only one or two. There are many kinds of Magnolia, but the handsomest is M. Aquifolium, a hardy shrub, with dark green shining leaves, like the holly. All the species both of Berberis and Mahonia have yellow flowers; and the Mahonias all flower very abundantly, and very early in spring.