Burke: Berberis nervosa vs. Berberis darwinii

	Berberis nervosa	Berberis darwinii
		darwin's barberry
Habit	Low, evergreen shrubs generally 0.1-0.3 m, occasionally taller; glabrous, brown to yellow-brown bark.	Evergreen shrubs, 1-3 m. tall, the stems dimorphic, with elongate primary and short axillary shoots; second year bark brown-woolly; stems spiny.
Leaves		Leaves simple; petioles 0.1-0.3 cm. long; leaf blades obovate, 1-veined from the base, 1.7-3 cm. long and 0.9-2 cm. wide, thick and rigid, the base acute, the margins wavy, reflexed, toothed or shallowly lobed, these tipped with spines, the tip rounded, the surface glossy green.
Flowers		Inflorescence a dense, 10- to 20-flowered raceme 3-4 cm. long; flowers yellow, with 6 sepals, 6 petals, and 3 membranous, scale-like bracteoles; stamens 6.
Fruits		Berries purple, spheric, 6-7 mm. in diameter, juicy and firm.
Leaves	Leaves alternate, pinnately-compound, leathery; leaflets 9-21, glossy to somewhat dull and glaucous, lance-ovate to ovate, 3-8 cm long and 1-5 cm broad, 4-6 veins from base, somewhat dull and glaucous, 6-13 spine-tipped teeth.
Flowers	Inflorescences dense racemes, 6-17 cm long with 30-70 flowers; bracts 3, greenish-yellow, 2-3 mm long; sepals 6, yellow, 6-8 mm long; petals 6, yellow, bi-lobed; stamens 6, opposite of petals; pair of lateral teeth absent from filaments; style none, stigma sessile.
Fruits	Berries blue, glaucous, juicy, solid, oblong-ovoid to globose, 8-11 mm.

	Berberis nervosa	Berberis darwinii
Flowering time	April-May
Habitat	Generally in light woodland and forest edge.	Prefers high humidity; rarely escapes cultivation
Distribution	Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to western Montana. [WildflowerSearch map]	Occasional near the coast in Oregon and California. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Introduced
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	B. darwinii, B. julianae, B. thunbergii, B. vulgaris	B. julianae, B. thunbergii, B. vulgaris
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Berberis darwinii

darwin's barberry

Habit

Low, evergreen shrubs generally 0.1-0.3 m, occasionally taller; glabrous, brown to yellow-brown bark.

Evergreen shrubs, 1-3 m. tall, the stems dimorphic, with elongate primary and short axillary shoots; second year bark brown-woolly; stems spiny.

Leaves

Leaves simple;

petioles 0.1-0.3 cm. long;

leaf blades obovate, 1-veined from the base, 1.7-3 cm. long and 0.9-2 cm. wide, thick and rigid, the base acute, the margins wavy, reflexed, toothed or shallowly lobed, these tipped with spines, the tip rounded, the surface glossy green.

Flowers

Inflorescence a dense, 10- to 20-flowered raceme 3-4 cm. long;

flowers yellow, with 6 sepals, 6 petals, and 3 membranous, scale-like bracteoles;

stamens 6.

Fruits

Berries purple, spheric, 6-7 mm. in diameter, juicy and firm.

Leaves

Leaves alternate, pinnately-compound, leathery;

leaflets 9-21, glossy to somewhat dull and glaucous, lance-ovate to ovate, 3-8 cm long and 1-5 cm broad, 4-6 veins from base, somewhat dull and glaucous, 6-13 spine-tipped teeth.

Flowers

Inflorescences dense racemes, 6-17 cm long with 30-70 flowers;

bracts 3, greenish-yellow, 2-3 mm long;

sepals 6, yellow, 6-8 mm long;

petals 6, yellow, bi-lobed;

stamens 6, opposite of petals; pair of lateral teeth absent from filaments;

style none, stigma sessile.

Fruits

Berries blue, glaucous, juicy, solid, oblong-ovoid to globose, 8-11 mm.