Flora of North America species comparison

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Berberis trifoliolata

agarito, agritos, algerita, currant-of-Texas
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 1-3.5 m.
Stems

± dimorphic, with elongate primary and short axillary shoots.
Bark

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

3-foliolate;

petioles 0.8-5.4 cm.
Leaflet

blades thick and rigid;

surfaces abaxially dull, papillose, adaxially dull, ± glaucous;

terminal leaflet sessile, blade 2.3-5.8 × 0.9-2 cm, 1.6-3.1 times as long as wide;

lateral leaflet blades narrowly lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, 1-veined from base, base acute or acuminate, rarely rounded-acute, margins plane, toothed or lobed, with 1-3 teeth or lobes 3-7 mm high tipped with spines to 1-2 × 0.2-0.3 mm, apex narrowly acute or acuminate.
Spines

absent.
Inflorescences

racemose, lax, 1-8-flowered, 0.5-3 cm;

bracteoles membranous, apex acuminate.
Flowers

anther filaments without distal pair of recurved lateral teeth.
Berries

red, sometimes glaucous, spheric, 6-11 mm, juicy, solid.
Bud

scales 2-3 mm, deciduous.

Berberis trifoliolata
Phenology Flowering winter–spring (Feb–Apr).
Habitat Slopes and flats in grassland, shrubland, and sometimes open woodland
Elevation 0-2000 m (0-6600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; NM; TX; n Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

The illegitimate name Berberis trifoliolata Moricand var. glauca (I. M. Johnston) M. C. Johnston has been used for plants with very strongly glaucous leaves. Weakly and strongly glaucous plants are often found in the same population, however, indicating that they are not distinct varieties.

Berberis trifoliolata is susceptible to infection by Puccinia graminis.

(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. fremontii, B. haematocarpa, B. harrisoniana, B. higginsiae, B. nervosa, B. nevinii, B. pinnata, B. piperiana, B. pumila, B. repens, B. swaseyi, B. thunbergii, B. vulgaris, B. wilcoxii
Synonyms Mahonia trifoliolata
Name authority Moricand: Pl. Nouv. Amér., 113. (1841)
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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