Flora of North America species comparison

Nandina domestica is commonly cultivated as an ornamental. China and Japan have been considered the possible sources of cultivated material. In the flora, seedlings are frequent in the vicinity of plantings, and mature plants have been found far from areas of current cultivation in the southeastern United States.

(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.)