Berberis nervosa |
Berberidaceae |
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Cascade Oregon-grape, dull Oregon-grape, dwarf Oregon-grape, Oregon grape |
barberry family |
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Habit | Shrubs, evergreen, 0.1-0.8(-2) m. | Herbs or shrubs [trees], perennial, evergreen or deciduous, sometimes rhizomatous. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | monomorphic, without short axillary shoots. |
with or without spines. |
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Bark | of 2d-year stems brown or yellow-brown, glabrous. |
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Leaves | 9-21-foliolate; petioles 2-11 cm. |
alternate, opposite, or fascicled, simple, 2-3-foliolate, or 1-3-pinnately or 2-3(-4)-ternately compound; stipules present or absent; venation pinnate or palmate. |
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Leaflet | blades thin and ± flexible; surfaces abaxially rather dull, smooth, adaxially dull, somewhat glaucous; terminal leaflet stalked, blade 2.9-8.4 × 1.2-4.8 cm, 1.8-3.2 times as long as wide; lateral leaflet blades lance-ovate to ovate, 4-6-veined from base, base rounded to cordate, margins plane, toothed, each with 6-13 teeth 1-2(-3) mm tipped with spines to 1-2.4 × 0.1-0.2 mm, apex acute or broadly acuminate. |
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Spines | absent. |
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Inflorescences | racemose, dense, 30-70-flowered, 6-17 cm; bracteoles membranous, apex acute, obtuse, or rounded. |
terminal or axillary, racemes, cymes, umbels (or umbel-like), spikes, or panicles, or flowers solitary or in pairs, flowers pedicellate or sessile. |
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Flowers | anther filaments without distal pair of recurved lateral teeth. |
bisexual, inconspicuous or showy, radially symmetric; stipitate glands absent (except in Vancouveria); sepaloid bracteoles 0-9; perianth sometimes absent (Achlys), more frequently present, 2- or 3-merous, or sepals and petals intergrading (Nandis); sepals 6, distinct, often petaloid and colored, not spurred; petals 6-9, distinct, plane or hooded; nectary present; stamens 6; anthers dehiscing by valves or longitudinal slits; ovary superior, apparently 1-carpellate; placentation marginal or appearing basal; style present or absent, sometimes persistent in fruit as beak. |
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Fruits | follicles, berries, or utricles. |
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Berries | blue, glaucous, oblong-ovoid or globose, 8-11 mm, juicy, solid. |
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Seeds | 1-50, sometimes arillate; endosperm abundant; embryo large or small; mature seeds elevated on elongating stalk in Caulophyllum. |
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Bud | scales (13-)20-44 mm, persistent. |
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2n | = 56. |
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Berberis nervosa |
Berberidaceae |
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Phenology | Flowering winter–spring (Mar–Jun). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Open or shaded woods, often in rocky areas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0-1800 m (0-5900 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
CA; ID; OR; WA; BC
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Widespread; well represented in the north temperate zone |
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Discussion | Plants of Berberis nervosa are usually very low (commonly 0.1-0.3 m), but occasional plants may be considerably taller (to 2 m). One such population from north of Westport, California, has been separated as B. nervosa var. mendocinensis. Similar populations occur sporadically throughout the range of B. nervosa, so the form should not be recognized taxonomically. Berberis nervosa is resistant to infection by Puccinia graminis. The Skagit tribe used Berberis nervosa medicinally in a root preparation to treat venereal disease (D. E. Moermann 1986). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Genera 15, species ca. 650 (8 genera, 33 species in the flora). Berberidaceae presents several interesting biogeographic features. Achlys is disjunct from western North America to east Asia with few morphologic differences between taxa. Diphylleia, Jeffersonia, and Podophyllum, each with a single eastern North American species, exhibit wide disjunctions to east Asia. Caulophyllum has three species, one in east Asia and two in the flora. Vancouveria is endemic to northwestern United States with nearest relations to Epimedium Linnaeus (H. Loconte and J. R. Estes 1989b; W. T. Stearn 1938), an exclusively Eastern Hemisphere genus. Nandina, Berberis, Epimedium, and Podophyllum are cultivated. The perianth of Berberidaceae is commonly composed of three distinct types of organs, but terminology for the organs varies from author to author. In our treatment, we refer to the small, outer parts as bracteoles (collectively forming a calyculus); the large, middle parts as sepals; and the innermost parts, which are commonly nectariferous, as petals. Some authors have referred to the bracteoles as outer sepals and to the petals as staminodes. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3, p. 272. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Berberidaceae > Berberis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | B. nervosa var. mendocinensis, Mahonia nervosa, Mahonia nervosa var. mendocinensis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept., 219. (1814) | Jussieu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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