Flora's Lexicon/Barberry

by Catharine Harbeson Waterman

ARBERRY. Berberis Vulgaris. Class 6, Hexandria. Order: Monogynia. The common barberry is abundant in many parts of the United States. Its close branches and thorns render it peculiarly fit for hedges, and its brilliant red berries are very ornamental to the fields which it encircles. These berries, worn in the hair, have been mistaken for coral ornaments, Preserved in sugar, they form a cheap but much valued dainty among the farmers of New England. The fruit of the barberry is so very acid that birds will seldom eat them. The tree is armed with thorns, and the flowers are so irritable, that at the slightest touch all the stamina close around the pistil. Thus this tree bears all the characteristics of persons whose temper is sharp and irritable.

SHARPNESS. SOURNESS OF TEMPER.

Happiness courts thee in her best array;
But, like a misbehaved and sullen wench,
Thou pout’st upon thy fortune and thy love:
Take heed, take heed, for such die miserable

Shakspeare.

He reads much;
He is a great observer, and he looks
Quite through the deeds of men: he loves no plays,
As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music:
Seldom he smiles; and smiles in such a sort,
As if he mock’d himself, and scorn’d his spirit
That could be moved to smile at any thing.

Shakspeare.

She is peevish, sullen, froward,
Proud, disobedient, stubborn, lacking duty;
Neither regarding that she is my child,
Nor fearing me as if I were her father.

Shakspeare.