Berberis thunbergii |
Berberidaceae |
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Japanese barberry |
barberry family |
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Habit | Shrubs, deciduous, 0.3-3 m. Stems dimorphic, with short axillary shoots. | Herbs or shrubs [trees], perennial, evergreen or deciduous, sometimes rhizomatous. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | with or without spines. |
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Bark | of 2d-year stems purple or brown, glabrous. |
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Leaves | blade obovate to spatulate, 1-veined from base, (0.5-)1.2-2.4 × 0.3-1(-1.8) cm, thin and flexible, base long-attenuate, margins plane, entire, apex rounded or obtuse; surfaces abaxially dull, smooth, adaxially dull, scarcely glaucous. |
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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Spines | present, simple or 3-fid. |
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Inflorescences | umbellate, 1-5-flowered, 1-1.5 cm; bracteoles membranous, apex acute. |
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 | red, ellipsoid or spheric, (7-)9-10 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 1-2 mm, deciduous. |
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Berberis thunbergii |
Berberidaceae |
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Phenology | Flowering late winter–spring (Mar–May). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Woods, old fields, roadsides | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0-1300 m (0-4300 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
CT; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; SD; VA; VT; WI; WV; WY; NB; NS; ON; PE; native; Asia (Japan) [Introduced in North America]
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Widespread; well represented in the north temperate zone |
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Discussion | The U.S. Department of Agriculture lists Berberis thunbergii as resistant to infection by Puccinia graminis, and the species is widely grown as an ornamental in the United States. Preliminary tests carried out by Agriculture Canada, however, suggest that some strains may be susceptible to Puccinia graminis infection, and cultivation of B. thunbergii is illegal in Canada. (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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Name authority | de Candolle: Syst. Nat. 2: 19. (1821) | Jussieu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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