52 bark. The leaves clustered, and of two kinds; the old ones terminated with a sharp spinose point, and having a lateral spinule on each side, above the middle, and the younger ones being pale green, unarmed, and having their margins entire and softish. The old leaves are also quite rigid, dark green, and shining. The flowers are solitary, about the size of a pea, and of an orange-yellow colour. (Exot. Fl., i. t. 14.) Dr. Hooker also observes, that this species" departs from the generic character of De Candolle, inasmuch as the calyx has no scales at its base, nor are the filaments destitute of teeth, for there are two most distinct ones just beneath the anther." This shrub is a native of the Straits of Magellan, where it was discovered by Commerson; but when, and by whom, it was introduced in our gardens, Dr. Hooker informs us, is not known. According to Dr. Lindley, it is "an inelegant bush, about 3 ft. high, bare of leaves, and having nothing but its rarity to recommend it." It is the B. ilicifolia of English gardens. 11. B. EMPETRIFO`LIA Lam. The Empetrum-leaved Berberry. Identification. Lam. Ill., t. 253. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 107. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 117.; Pen. Cyc., 4. p. 261. Engraving. Lam. Ill., t. 253. fig. 4. Spec. Char., &c. Spines 3-parted. Leaves linear, quite entire, with revolute margins. Pedicels 1-2, 1-flowered. (Don's Mill.,i. p. 117.) According to Dr. Lindley, the leaves are collected in bundles in the axils of the spines, and the pedicels of the flowers are about as long as the leaves. "A very curious and pretty plant, found wild from the Cordilleras of Chili to the southern point of the American Continent, in subalpine woods. In general aspect it is much more like a heath than a berberry, seldom exceeding 2 ft. in height. It has been some years in the Horticultural Society's Garden, and is in Young's Nursery at Epsom, and in the Fulham Nursery, but is to be found in few others. It flowers in December, and is said, in Sweet's Brit. Fl.Gard., 2d series, t. 100., to have flowered at Low's Nursery, Clapton. D. Leaves leathery, evergreen or sub-evergreen. Flowers in Racemes. 12. B. FLORIBU'NDA Wall. The many-flowered Berberry. Identification. Wall. MSS.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 115.; Pen. Cyc., 4. p. 261. Synonymes. "Out of accidental variations of this species, and its mode of leafing and flowering, the spurious species called B. affinis and B. ceratophylla have been constituted. By Dr. Wallich, in his distribution of the herbarium of the East India Company, B. floribunda has been mistaken for B. aristata." (Pen. Cyc., 4. p. 261.) Spec. Char., &c. Spines 3-parted and very stiff. Leaves oblong or oblonglanceolate, nearly entire, or toothed in various degrees, sometimes very deeply and coarsely veined; flowers in long, loose, slender racemes. (Pen. Cyc., iv. p. 261.) This species is supposed to grow about 10 ft. high in Nepal, and, as Dr. Lindley observes, is, "apparently, extremely common in the whole of the north of India, where it forms a tall bush, varying considerably in the form and size of the leaves, and in the degree in which they are toothed, but always well marked by its slender, pendulous, or erect racemes of flowers, which are much longer than the leaves, and in no degree corymbose. It is to be found occasionally in the more choice collections in this country." (Pen. Cyc., iv. p. 261.) 13. B. ASIATICA Roxb. The Asiatic Berberry. Identification. Roxb. in Dec. Syst., 2. p. 13.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 107.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 116.; Pen. Cyc., 4. p. 261. Synonymes. B. tinctòria Lech.; the Raisin Berberry Pen. Cyc. Engraving. Deless. Icon. sel., 2. t. 1. Spec. Char., &c. Spines trifid, or simple. Leaves oval, cuneated or elliptical, mucronate, smooth, under surface glaucous, entire or spinulosely toothed. Racemes short, many-flowered, corymbose, shorter than the leaves. Pedicels 14. B. DEALBA TA Lindl. The whitened-leaved Ber- Identification. Bot. Reg., t. 1750,; Pen. Cyc., 4. p. 261. Engraving. Bot. Reg., t. 1750.; and our fig. 53. Spec. Char,. &c. Spines scarcely any. Leaves roundish, coarsely toothed, rather glaucous, white beneath. Racemes very short and compact, pendulous. (Pen. Cyc., iv. p. 261.) A native of Mexico, whence it was introduced into England by the London Horticultural Society in? 1830. "It is a tall slender evergreen bush, with deep brown branches, and scarcely any spines. The flowers, which appear in December, are yellow, and the fruit red. The leaves are sometimes wedge-shaped and 3-toothed, but more frequently are nearly round, with two or three spiny teeth on every side." (Pen. Cyc., iv. p. 261.) A curious and beautiful species, well deserving of cultivation. There are plants in the Fulham Nursery 21s. each. 15. B. ARISTA TA Dec. The bristled-tooth-leaved Berberry. Identification. Hook. Exot. Flor., 2. t. 98.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 106; Don's Mill., 1. p. 115. Engravings. Hook. Exot. Flor., t. 98.; Bot. Reg., t. 729.; and our fig. 54. Spec. Char., &c. Lower spines 3-parted, simple; leaves obovate-acute, tapering much to the base, ending in a mucro (prickly point) at the apex, membranous, smooth on both sides, serrated, with 4 or 5 bristly teeth. Racemes nodding, many-flowered, longer than the leaves. Berries oblong. (Don's Mill., i. p. 115. adapted.) A robust shrub, very distinct from any of the preceding species or varieties, growing with extraordinary vigour, and capable of being formed into a very handsome small tree. It is a native of Nepal, and is found on mountains at from 5000 ft. to 8000 ft. of elevation, flowering there in May. The root and wood are of a dark yellow colour, and form the yellow wood of Persian authors; they are used as a dye, and, being bitter and a little astringent, they, as well as the bark, are employed in medicine. (Royle's Illust., p. 63.) The plant was introduced into England in 1820, and is already in several gardens. In Nepal, the fruit of this species is dried, like grapes for forming raisins, in the + sun. After being once established, plants of this species grow with extraordinary rapidity till they attain the height of 8 ft. or 10 ft., after which they continue throwing up suckers, and some of these which we have measured in the Fulham Nursery, and in the Goldworth arboretum, were 9 ft. long, and, at the lower end, three fourths of an inch in diameter. It is a most desirable plant, and calculated to produce a splendid effect, both when in flower and when in fruit, upon an open lawn. As a rapid grower, it ought not to be planted near slow-growing shrubs or trees. Price of plants, in the London nurseries, 1s. each; at Bollwyller,?; in New York, ?. Varieties. Mr. Royle has the following remarks. "Under B. aristàta, I conceive two species have been included, or at least two such very distinct varieties as to require particular notice. These are distinguished by the natives, apt to confound things together, by the names of kushmul and chitra. The former growing at as low elevations as 3000 feet. and therefore easily acclimated in the plains of India, has the leaves and branches pale-coloured, and more thorny; the flowers more numerous, racemes erect, appearing earlier in the season, and having less pleasant-tasted fruit: while chitra, which I conceive to be the true B. aristata, and have not found below 5000 feet of elevation, has brownish-coloured branches, smooth, shining, almost entire leaves, each flower much larger than those of kushmul, though less numerous than those on each of the drooping racemes." (Illust. &c., p. 64.) App. i. Additional Species of Bérberis. B. Wallichiana Dec., synon. àtro-viridis. A native of the higher parts of Nepal, and, according to Dr. Lindley, "exceedingly well worth procuring, on account of its deep-green evergreen leaves," which will, in all probability, prove hardy. It is figured in Wallich's Plant. Asiat. Rar., t. 243.-B. kunawurénsis, a native of the Himalaya, is also a very desirable species.-B. actinacantha is mentioned by Dr. Lindley as a very common plant, between Valparaiso and Santiago, which might be easily introduced: besides which, he says, there are other evergreen South American species of great beauty. "Some from the south of Chili particularly were found by Mr. Bridges near Valdivia, with shining holly-like leaves, long racemes of orangecoloured flowers, and young branches covered with rusty down." (Penny Cyc., iv. p. 261.)-B. burifolia Lam. Ill., t. 253. f. 3., and our fig. 55. a small twisted shrub, with bluish purple berries, a native of the Straits of Magellan, would be a desirable acquisition, as it is doubtless as hardy as B. empetrifòlia, p. 306. In the garden of the Horticultural Society there is a berberry raised from seeds received from M. Ledebour, under the name of B. ilicifolia, which has not yet flowered, but which is entirely different from the B. heterophylla, synon. B. ilicifolia of the nurseries. Seeds of berberries from distant countries, the same authority observes, "would certainly reach England in safety, if mixed with tenacious earth and rammed into a box," The species both of Berberis and Mahonia are so eminently beautiful, that too much can scarcely be said in their favour. GENUS II. MAHO`NIA Nutt. THE MAHONIA, or ASH BERBERRY. Lin. Syst. Hexándria Derivation. Named by Nuttall in honour of Bernard M'Mahon a seedsman at Philadelphia, the Gen. Char. Sepals 6, guarded on the outside by three scales. Petals 6, without glands on the inside. Stamens furnished with a tooth on each side at top of the filament. Berries 3-9-seeded. (Don's Mill., i. p. 118.)- The species are elegant evergreen shrubs with yellow flowers and pinnate leaves. The latter resemble pretty much those of the ash, and hence, doubtless, the name of ash berberry. Natives of the north-west coast of America, and also of Nepal, and perhaps Japan. Though some botanists think that the characters ascribed to this genus, and those ascribed to Bérberis, as exhibited in p. 229., are not sufficient to keep them separate as genera; yet the habits of the species of one, as to the mode of growth, foliage, and inflorescence, are so distinct from those of the other, as to induce us to adopt Mahònia. The species in British gardens are all of comparatively slow growth, and admit but of slow multiplication by layers, and scarcely at all by cuttings. Some of them, however, seed freely, and are readily propagated in that way. Four species have been introduced, and they are described by Dr. Lindley, in the Penny Cyclopædia, as being included in a section of the genus Berberis. 1. M. FASCICULA'RIS Dec. The crowded-racemed Mahonia, or Ash Berberry. Identification. Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer., 1. p. 28.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 108., and Syst., 2. p. 19.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 118. Synonymes. Berberis pinnata Lag., Bot. Reg., t. 702., and Bot. Mag., 2d edit. vol. 1. t. 88.; B. fascicularis Pen. Cyc. In the same work it is stated that Mahònia diversifòlia is the same as this species; though it is figured and described by Sweet, as a species from Monte Video: see Swt. Br. FL-Gar., 2d series, t. 56. Engravings. Ker. Bot. Reg., t. 702.; Kth. Nov. Sp. Amer., 5. p. 71. t. 434.; Bot. Mag., t. 2396.; and our fig. 56. Spec.Char., &c. Leaves of 3-6 pairs with an odd one, the lowest pair near the base of the petiole. Leaflets ovate-lanceolate, rather distant, one-nerved, spiny-toothed, with 4 or 5 teeth on each side. Racemes nearly erect, much crowded. Filaments bidentate. (Don's Mill., i. p. 118., adapted.) A very handsome tall evergreen shrub, which attains, in British gardens, especially if against a wall, the height of 8 or 10 ft. and produces its yellow flowers in abundance, from the middle of March to the middle of May. "Perhaps the most showy of all the family." (Bot. Mag., 2d edit. vol. i. p. 48.) It is found in the mountainous parts of California and Mexico. It is readily distinguished at a distance from the other mahonias, by the glaucous green and subdued tone of colour of its leaves; those of all the others being of a darker green, and more or less shining. The plant is rather too tender to be treated as a bush, unless some slight protection be given to it during very severe frosts; but it will grow freely against a wall with scarcely any protection. There is a fine specimen of it in the London Horticultural Society's Garden, more than 8 ft. high. In the nurseries, plants are at present rather scarce, and cost from 5s. to 7s. each. 2. M. AQUIFO`LIUM Nutt. The Holly-leaved Mahonia, or Ash Berberry. Identification. Nutt. Gen. Amer., 1. p. 212.; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 108.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 118. Synonyme. Bérberis Aquifolium Ph. and Pen. Cyc. Engravings. Pursh. Fl. Amer. Sept., 1. t. 4.; Bot. Reg., t. 1425.; and our fig. 57. Varieties. One variety, M. A. nutkàna Dec., is mentioned by De Candolle (Prod., i. p. 108.); and another, found at the junction of the Portage river with the Columbia, by G. Don. (Don's Mill., i. p. 118.) 57 a Spec. Char., &c. Leaves in 4 pairs of leaflets with an odd one, the lower pairdistant from the base of the petiole; leaflets ovate, approximate, cordate at the base, onenerved, spiny-toothed, with 9 or 6 teeth on each side. Racemes erect, and much crowded. Filaments bidentate. (Don's Mill., adapted.) One of the handsomest of hardy evergreen shrubs, attaining the height of 6 ft. in 6 years, quite hardy, producing a profusion of bunches of yellow flowers during April and May. It is a native of the north-west coast of America, from New Albion to Nootka Sound, growing in rich vegetable soil among rocks, or in woods, where it forms a thick and rich under-growth. It was introduced into England in 1823, and is to be found in all good collections. According to Dr. Lindley, it is " perhaps the handsomest hardy evergreen we yet possess. Its foliage is of a rich, deep, shining green, becoming purple in the winter; it bears fruit in some abundance, which consists of clusters of roundish black berries, having their surface covered with a rich violet bloom. It most resembles M. fasciculàris, from which its large shining leaves at once distinguish it." (Penny Cyc., iv. p. 262.) This species is propagated very slowly by layers, and, for some years, plants were sold in the nurseries at ten guineas each. Lately, however, a number of ripe seeds have been produced in England, or imported from America through the Hudson's Bay Company; and from these, many young plants have been raised, in the Epsom and other nurseries; so that small plants may now be obtained for 5s. each, and in a few years they will, no doubt, not cost half that sum. In Prince's Catalogue for 1825, the price is stated as 25 dollars (51. 5s.) each. 3. M. NERVO'SA Nutt. The nerved-leaved Mahonia, or Ash Berberry. Identification. Nutt. Gen. Amer., 1. p. 212.; Don's Mill., 1. p. 118. Synonymes. Bérberis nervosa Ph.; Mahònia glumacea Dec.; Bérberis glumacea Pen. Cyc. Spec. Char., &c. Leaves of 5 -6 pairs, with an odd one, the lower pair distant from the petiole; leaflets ovate, acuminated, and remotely spiny-toothed, somewhat 3-5-nerved, with 12 or 14 teeth on each side; racemes elongated; filaments bidentate. (Don's Mill., i. p. 118.) An evergreen undershrub, in its native habitats seldom exceeding the height of 3 ft., and producing its yellow flowers in October, succeeded by roundish fruit, of a glaucous-purple colour, and having an insipid taste. The plant is found in shady pine woods, on the |