Flora of North America species comparison

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Berberis fremontii

Fremont barberry, Fremont's barberry, Fremont's mahonia
Habit Shrubs evergreen, 1-4.5 m. Stems ± dimorphic, with elongate primary and short or somewhat elongate axillary shoots.
Bark

of 2d-year stems light brown or grayish purple, glabrous.
Leaves

5-9(-11)-foliolate;

petioles 0.2-0.8(-3) cm.
Leaflet

blades thick and rigid;

surfaces abaxially dull, papillose, adaxially dull, glaucous;

terminal leaflet stalked in most or all leaves, blade 1-2.6(-4) × 0.7-1.8(-2.5) cm, 1-2.5 times as long as wide;

lateral leaflet blades elliptic to ovate or orbiculate, 1-3-veined from base, base obtuse or truncate, margins strongly crispate, toothed or lobed, with 2-5 teeth 2-6 mm high tipped with spines to 0.8-2.2 × 0.2-0.3 mm, apex obtuse to acuminate.
Spines

absent.
Inflorescences

racemose, lax, 3-6-flowered, 2.5-6.5 cm;

bracteoles membranous, apex acuminate.
Flowers

anther filaments with distal pair of recurved lateral teeth.
Berries

yellow or red to brown, ± glaucous, spheric, 12-18 mm, dry, inflated.
Bud

scales 2-4 mm, deciduous.

Berberis fremontii
Phenology Flowering spring (Apr–Jun).
Habitat Slopes and flats in desert grassland and pinyon-juniper woodland
Elevation 1100-2400(-3400) m (3600-7900(-11200) ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; NM; NV; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Berberis fremontii is susceptible to infection by Puccinia graminis.

The Apache Indians used Berberis fremontii for ceremonial purposes; the Hopi used it medicinally to heal gums (D. E. Moermann 1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Berberidaceae > Berberis
Sibling taxa
B. amplectens, B. aquifolium, B. bealei, B. canadensis, B. darwinii, B. dictyota, B. fendleri, B. haematocarpa, B. harrisoniana, B. higginsiae, B. nervosa, B. nevinii, B. pinnata, B. piperiana, B. pumila, B. repens, B. swaseyi, B. thunbergii, B. trifoliolata, B. vulgaris, B. wilcoxii
Synonyms Mahonia fremontii
Name authority Torrey: in W. H. Emory, Rep. U.S. Mex. Bound. 2(1): 30. (1859)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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