Barberry

Barberry, or Berberry (Berberis vulgaris), a British shrub, belonging to the order Berberidaceae, containing many varieties. It grows generally 8 or 10 feet high, with a yellow astringent bark and roots, used in dyeing. The leaves are small, obovate, ciliate, bright-green, and deciduous, being clustered by the shortening of the spinous branches. The pendulous racemes of yellow flowers have irritable stamens, dehiscing by valves, and the berry-like fruit is oblong and generally orange. It is used in pickles and preserves. The leaves are attacked by a fungus, the cluster-cup, Aecidium Berberidis, now known to be only one stage of Puccinia graminis, the wheat-mildew, for which reason the barberry is rooted up by farmers.