Berberis pinnata
Berberis repens
California barberry, California Oregon-grape, shiny leaf mahonia
creeping barberry, creeping Oregon-grape, prostrate barberry
of 2d-year stems grayish brown, glabrous.
of 2d-year stems grayish or purplish brown, glabrous.
(3-)5-13-foliolate;
petioles 0.5-4.5(-7.5) cm.
(3-)5-7-foliolate;
petioles (1-)3-9 cm.
blades thin and ± rigid or flexible;
surfaces abaxially glossy, smooth, adaxially glossy, green;
terminal leaflet stalked, blade 2.6-6.2 × 2-4.5 cm, 1.3-1.9 times as long as wide;
lateral leaflet blades elliptic to ovate or broadly lanceolate, 1(-3)-veined from base, base broadly obtuse, truncate, or weakly cordate, margins plane to crispate, toothed, each with 5-22 teeth 0-2 mm tipped with spines to 1-3 × 0.1-0.3 mm, apex acute to rounded-obtuse.
blades thin and flexible;
surfaces abaxially dull, papillose, adaxially dull, rarely glossy, somewhat glaucous;
terminal leaflet stalked, blade 3.2-9.5 × 2.3-6 cm, 1.2-2.2(-2.5) times as long as wide;
lateral leaflets ovate or elliptic, 1(-3)-veined from base, base rounded to obtuse or truncate, margins plane, toothed, with 6-24 teeth 0.5-3 mm tipped with spines to 0.6-2.8 × 0.1-0.25 mm, apex rounded, rarely obtuse or even broadly acute.
absent.
absent.
racemose, dense, 25-50-flowered, 2-9 cm;
bracteoles membranous, apex rounded to broadly acute, sometimes apiculate.
racemose, dense, 25-50-flowered, 3-10 cm;
bracteoles membranous, apex rounded to obtuse or broadly acute.
blue, glaucous, oblong-ovoid to subspheric, 6-7 mm, juicy, solid.
blue, glaucous, oblong-ovoid, 6-10 mm, juicy, solid.
scales 3-7 mm, deciduous.
scales 3-8 mm, deciduous.
filaments with distal pair of recurved lateral teeth.
filaments with distal pair of recurved lateral teeth.
= 28.
Berberis pinnata
Berberis repens
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora).
Berberis pinnata is very similar to B. aquifolium, and the two are sometimes difficult to separate. Some authors have used the spacing of the lateral leaflets (said to be contiguous or imbricate in B. pinnata and remote in B. aquifolium) to separate them, but the leaflets are often remote in both species and may be contiguous in B. aquifolium.
Berberis pinnata is resistant to infection by Puccinia graminis.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Berberis sonnei was described based on plants with relatively narrow, rather shiny leaflets collected by Sonne in Truckee, California. Subsequent collections from this population show the morphology typical of B. repens; Sonne's collections evidently are an aberrant form of this species.
Berberis repens is resistant to infection by Puccinia graminis.
Various Native American tribes used preparations of the roots of Berberis repens to treat stomach troubles, to prevent bloody dysentary, and as a blood purifier; mixed with whiskey, it was used for bladder problems, venereal diseases, general aches, and kidney problems; and preparations made from the entire plant served as a cure-all and as a lotion for scorpion bites (D. E. Moermann 1986).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Margins of leaf blade undulate or crispate, marginal spines to 1.2-3 × 0.2-0.3 mm; shrubs 0.3-1.6 m, self-supporting. | subsp. pinnata |
1. Margins of leaf blade plane or weakly undulate, marginal spines to 1-1.6 × 0.1- 0.2 mm; shrubs 1-7 m, self-supporting or clambering over surrounding vegetation. | subsp. insularis |
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
BC
MN Wildflowers
