EPIMEDIUM (from epi, upon, akin to, and Medion, a plant, said to grow in Media; a name from Dioscorides, retained by Linnaeus). Barrenwort. ORD. Berberideae. Ornamental hardy herbaceous perennials, with creeping perennial trunks, and annual stems. Flowers various-coloured. Leaves stalked, compound; leaflets awnedly-serrated. They form admirable plants for rockwork, and will thrive in a compost of fresh loam and peat, in equal proportions. Propagated by divisions of the root, which should be made during July or August. EPIMEDIUM alpinum (alpine).* fl. twelve to twenty in a lax panicle; outer sepals greyish; inner ones dark crimson; petals yellow, composed almost entirely of a slipper-shaped spur. l. biternate; leaflets cordate-ovate, acuminated, serrated. h. 6in. to 9in. Central Europe (naturalised here and there in Britain). EPIMEDIUM a. rubrum (red). A synonym of EPIMEDIUM rubrum. EPIMEDIUM diphyllum (twin-leaved). fl. white, numerous, small; peduncles bearing four to six drooping flowers in a simple, very lax raceme; petals not spurred. April and May. l., petiole 2in. to 3in. long, bearing two (only) cordate-ovate leaves. Japan, 1830. The dwarfest species of the genus. SYN. Aceranthus diphyllus. (B. M. 3448.) EPIMEDIUM macranthum (large-flowered).* fl. white; raceme short, close, six to ten-flowered; spur of petals deflexed, 1/2in. long. Early spring and summer. l. about 1ft. in length, biternate; leaflets nine, cordate-ovate, 2in. to 3in. long, closely ciliate-dentate. h. 10in. to 15in. Japan, 1836. This fine species is the handsomest of the genus. (B. R. 1906). EPIMEDIUM violaceum (B. M. 3751) is a variety of the foregoing, from which it differs in being dwarfer in habit, and in having smaller violet-coloured flowers. There are several other garden forms, more or less distinct. EPIMEDIUM Musschianum (Mussche's).* fl. dull white; peduncles few-flowered; racemes simple, close, short. May. l. biternate, about 6in. long; leaflets nine, cordate-ovate, 2in. to 3in. long. Japan, 1836. (B. M. 3745.) EPIMEDIUM Perralderianum (Perraudiere's). fl., when expanded, bright yellow, 5/8in. to 3/4in. in diameter; raceme simple, lax, about as long as the peduncle, twelve to twenty-flowered; outer sepals minute, oblong, deciduous; inner sepals orbicular, much imbricated, and spreading horizontally when fully expanded; petals with a bright yellow, toothed, erect lamina, and an incurved ligulate brown spur, nearly as long as the lamina. l., leaflets usually three, cordate-ovate, 2in. to 3in. long, bright green or tinted with red-brown. Algeria, 1867. This species is closely allied to EPIMEDIUM pinnatum. (B. M. 6509.) EPIMEDIUM pinnatum (pinnate).* fl. bright yellow; raceme lax, simple, 6in. long, twelve to twenty-flowered; peduncles about 6in. in length. Summer. l. radical, 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. long, tripinnate; leaflets stalked, ovate-acute, serrated. h. 8in. to 2ft. Persia, 1849. A handsome strong-growing species. EPIMEDIUM rubrum (red).* fl. when fully expanded, 3/4in. to 7/8in. in diameter, in a lax panicle, springing from the side of the common petiole, 1in. or 2in. below its apex; outer sepals greyish, oblong, soon deciduous; inner sepals bright crimson, oblong-lanceolate, very convex on the back, spreading horizontally when the flower is fully expanded; petals pale yellow or tinted with red, with a small but distinct erect limb. l. varying from biternate to almost triternate; leaflets sometimes as many as twenty. Native country doubtful. 1854. This species entirely resembles EPIMEDIUM alpinum in habit, but is more robust. SYN. EPIMEDIUM alpinum rubrum. (B. M. 5671.)