Flora Medica

BERBERACEJE.Nat. syst.ed. 2. p. 29.BERBERIS.Sepals 6, with 3 exterior scales. Petals 6, with 2 glands atthe base. Stamens 6, without denticulations. Pericarp fleshy,oblong, 2 3-seeded. Seeds erect, oblong, with a crustaceousskin. Primary leaves consisting of nothing but spiny ribs ;only rilling up with a web of parenchyma on the secondarybranches.135. B. vulgaris Linn. sp. pi 472. Fl. dan. t. 904. Eng.Hot. t. 49 Common throughout Europe and the North ofAsia.(Common Barberry.)An erect, deciduous shrub. Leaves somewhat obovate, divided atthe edge by ciliated teeth, in their primary state 3-parted and spiny.Racemes many-flowered, lax, pendulous. Petals entire. Fruit brightred, very acid. Bark astringent. A refreshing drink, prepared bycrushing the fruit in water, is considered serviceable in fevers.136. B. Lycium Royle Illustr. 64. in Linn, trans, vol. xvii.p.83.AVKIOV utitKov Dioscorid. Mountains in the North of India.Spines 3-parted conical. Leaves 5-8 in a cluster, pale, leathery,veiny, oblong, lanceolate, or obovate, tapering to the base, mucronate ;the margins spiny toothed or entire. Racemes 20-flowered, erect,spreading, becoming pendulous in fruit. Pedicels long simple. Flowerssmall. External scales lanceolate. Ovaries smooth, 4-seeded. Fruitovate, obtuse at each end. In India an extract prepared by digestingin water sliced pieces of the root stem and branches of this and otherspecies of Barberry, is called rusot, and is used advantageously incases of ophthalmia. Dr. Royle has seen it particularly useful whenthe acute symptoms have subsided and others; say that it is perhapsthe best application in ophthalmia ever employed.63