Berberis trifoliolata |
Berberidaceae |
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agarito, agritos, algerita, currant-of-Texas |
barberry family |
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Habit | Shrubs, evergreen, 1-3.5 m. Stems ± dimorphic, with elongate primary and 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 gray or grayish purple, glabrous. |
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Leaves | 3-foliolate; petioles 0.8-5.4 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 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. |
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Spines | absent. |
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Inflorescences | racemose, lax, 1-8-flowered, 0.5-3 cm; bracteoles membranous, apex acuminate. |
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, sometimes glaucous, spheric, 6-11 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 2-3 mm, deciduous. |
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Berberis trifoliolata |
Berberidaceae |
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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 |
AZ; NM; TX; n Mexico
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Widespread; well represented in the north temperate zone |
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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.) |
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 | Mahonia trifoliolata | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Moricand: Pl. Nouv. Amér., 113. (1841) | Jussieu | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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