ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM.
tree. The ro o t 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. (Roy/e’s
lihtst., p. 63.) In Nepal, the fruit o f this species' is dried, like grapes for
forming raisins, in the sun. A most desirable plant, calculated to produce a
splendili effect, both when in flower and when in fruit, upon an open lawn.
As ii rapid grower, it ought not to be planted near slow-growing shrubs oi
trees.
Other Species of Bérberis. — B. Coriària Royle, a species having th e same
general appearance as B . aristàta, has been raised in the Horticultural
Society’s Garden, and there are plants 3 ft. high, b ut they have not yet flowered.
Plants have been raised in the Horticultural Society’s Garden, and
in some nurseries, from seeds received from Mexico and Nepal; but, though
these have new names, it is not certain th a t they will all prove new species,
and therefore we consider it better not to record them till they have flowered.
In Hook. Bot. Mis. vol. hi., B. chilénsis Gill., B. ruscifòlia Lam., B.
corymbòsa Hook, et Arn., B. glomeràta Hook, e t Arn., and B. Grevilleàna. Gill.,
are described, o r mentioned, as having been found in South America, and
Dr. Hooker has specimens o f them in his herbarium. Numerous varieties
of Bérberis vulgàris are raised in the London gardens, under continental nanies,
as if they were species, but very few o f them are worth keeping distinct.
See in Gard. Mag. for 1840, p. 1., Mr. Gordon’s R ep o rt on those raised
in the Horticultural Society’s Garden in 1839.
G e n u s I I .
L i
M A H O 'N /ri N utt. T he M ahonia, or risHSFRRFRRF. Lin. Syst. Hexândria
Monogynia.
Identification. N u tt. Gen. Amer., 1. p. 307. ; Dec. P ro d ., I. p . 108. ; D o n ’s Mill., p . 117.
Synonymes. RiWct-* of authors ; Odosttmon S q f. ; Ash Berberry P o t. Cj/ri.
Derivation. Named by N u tta ll in h onour o f Bern a rd McMahon, a seedsman a t P hiladelphia, th e
au th o r of the American Gardener's Calendar, an d an ard en t lover of botanical science.
Gen. Char. Sepals 6, guarded on the outside by three scales. Petals 6 , witho
ut glands on the inside. Stamens furnished with a tooth on each side at
top of the filament. Berries 3—9-seeded. (Doris Mill.)
Leaves compound, pinnate, alternate, exstipulate, evergreen ; the leaflets
coriaceous, with the margins toothed o r serrated. Flowers yellow. Fruit
mostly black. — Natives o f the north-west coast o f America, and also o f
Nepal, and perhaps Japan.
Though some botanists think th a t the characters ascribed to this genus, and
those ascribed to Bérberis, as exhibited in p. 4L, are not sufficient to keep
them separate as genera ; yet the habits o f the species o f one, as to the mode
o f growth, foliage, and inflorescence, are so distinct from those o f the other,
as to induce us to adopt the genus Mahònf«. The species in British gardens
are all o f comparatively slow growth, and admit but o f slow multiplication by
layers, which require to remain on two years, and scarcely a t all by cuttings.
Some of them, however, seed freely, and are readily propagated in this way.
The seeds o f all the species of Mahònia, and also of those of Bérberis, if
sown immediately after they are ripe, and protected through the winter from
frost, will come up the following spring.
» 1. M. fa sc icu la ' r is Dec. The crowded-racmed Mahonia, or Ash Berberry.
Identification. Dec. P ro d ., 1. p. 108. ; Do n ’s Mill., 1. p 118.
Synonymes. Bérberis pin n àta L a g ., Bot. Reg., Bot. Mag., and Tor. Sj Gray ; B. fascicularis Pen.
Cyc. In th e same work it is s tated th a t Mahhnm diversifôlia is th e same as th is species ; though
i t is figured and described by Sweet, as a species from Monte Video: see Swt. B r . Fl.-Gar., 2d
series, t. 56.
Ei^gravings. Bot. Reg., t. 702. ; Bot. Mag., t. 2396. ; and our fig . 72.
Spec. Char., Sje. Leaves
o f 3— 6 pairs with an
odd one, the lowest
pair near the base o f
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.(D im ’s Jl7i7.)
An upright evergreen
shrub. California and
Mexico, on mountains.
Height 3 ft. to 8 ft.
Introduced in 1819.
Flowers yellow; Mar.
to May. Berries purple
; ripe in September.
Decaying leaves rich
yeliow; drop in June.
72. M Very handsome. “ Fer- a h ò n io fasc iculàtis.
all the family.” (Hooh
haps the most showy of Hook.) It is readily distinguished,
even at a distance, from the other mahonias,' '
by the glaucon.s green and
darker green, and more or less shining. The plant is rather too tender to
be treated as a delached 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. Layers and seeds.
• 2. M. riauiFo'LiuM Nuit. The Holly-leaved Mahonia, or Ash Berberry.
Identification. N u tt. Gen. Amer., 1. p. 212. ; Dec. P rod., 1. p. 1(18.; Do n ’s Mill., 1. p. 118.
Synonyme. Bérberis jiquìfòlium Ph., Pen . Cyc., and Tor. <§• Gray.
Engravings. P u rsh . Fl. Amer. Sept. 1 . 1. 4
Spec. Char., 4’c. Leaves of 4 pairs
o f leaflets with an odd one, the
lower pair distant from the base
o f the petiole; leaflets ovate, approximate,
e r y t
subdued tone ot colour o f its leaves ; those o f all the others being of a
cordate a t the base,
one-nerved, spiny-toothed, with
9 or 6 teeth on each side. Racemes
erect, and much crowded.
Filaments bidentate. (D .’s M ill.)
A shining evergreen shrub. New
Albion to Nootka Sound. Height
S ft. to 7 ft. in its native country,
probably 10 ft. in England. In troduced
in 1823. Flowers yellow
; April and May. Berries
purple ; ripe in September.
Varieties. One variety, M. A. nut-
kdnum Dec., is mentioned by De
Candolle; and another, found at
the junction of the Fortage river
, t. 1425. J and o uxfig. 73.
73. Mahònù) /Iquifblium
with the Columbia, by G. Don. Torrey and Gray consider Mahònia
rèpens and M. pinnàta Menzies as only varieties o f this species ; an inadvertence
excusable in those who have not seen the plants in a living state.
E 2