Berberis thunbergii
Berberis haematocarpa
Japanese barberry
algerita, red barberry, red fruit mahonia
of 2d-year stems purple or brown, glabrous.
of 2d-year stems grayish purple, glabrous.
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.
3-9-foliolate;
petioles 0.1-0.5 cm.
blades thick and rigid;
surfaces abaxially dull, papillose, adaxially dull, glaucous;
terminal leaflet stalked in most leaves, blade 1.5-3.8 × 0.5-1.1 cm, 2-5 times as long as wide;
lateral leaflet blades oblong-ovate to ovate or lanceolate, 1(-3)-veined from base, base acute to obtuse, rarely subtruncate, margins undulate or crispate, toothed or lobed, with 2-4 teeth 1-4 mm high tipped with spines to 1.2-2 × 0.2-0.3 mm, apex narrowly acute or acuminate.
present, simple or 3-fid.
absent.
umbellate, 1-5-flowered, 1-1.5 cm;
bracteoles membranous, apex acute.
racemose, lax, 3-7-flowered, 1.5–4.5 cm;
bracteoles membranous, apex acuminate.
anther filaments without distal pair of recurved lateral teeth.
anther filaments without distal pair of recurved lateral teeth.
red, ellipsoid or spheric, (7-)9-10 mm, juicy, solid.
purplish red, glaucous, spheric or short-ellipsoid, 5-8 mm, juicy, solid.
scales 1-2 mm, deciduous.
scales 2-4 mm, deciduous.
Berberis thunbergii
Berberis haematocarpa
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.)
Typical populations of Berberis haematocarpa (with narrowly ovate or lanceolate leaflets and small, juicy, deep red berries) and B. fremontii (with ovate or orbiculate leaflets and large, dry, inflated, yellowish or brownish berries) are easily distinguished. These characteristics are not always well correlated, however, and intermediate populations, showing different combinations of leaflet shape and berry size, color, and inflation, are known.
Berberis haematocarpa is susceptible to infection by Puccinia graminis.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
WA - Local Web sites:
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
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USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
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