E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Berberis vulgaris L.
common barberry
Berberidaceae (Barberry family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Distribution of Berberis vulgaris
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Species Information

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Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

General:
Clump-forming shrub; stems erect, freely branched, 0.5-2.5 m tall; branches angled, grey or yellowish-grey.

Leaves:
Deciduous, appearing simple, in fascicles in axils of branched spines, egg-shaped, 1-6 cm long, coarsely spine-toothed, prominently veined beneath.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of hanging or arching racemes; racemes 2-6 cm long, arising in the leaf axils; petals yellow, entire.

Fruits:
Oblong berries, 1 cm long, red or purple.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic to dry disturbed areas in the lowland and steppe zones; infrequent in SW and SC BC; introduced from Eurasia.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Similar Species

This spiny shrub may be mistaken in BC for Japanese barberry (Berberis thumbergii). Several key features separate the two, however. The leaves on Japanese barberry are entire and untoothed, while the leaves on common barberry are coarsely spine-toothed; the flowers of Japanese barberry are solitary flowers or umbellate with up to 5 flowers while the flowers of common barberry are racemose. with 10-20 flowers per raceme (Flora North America 2011).

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Status Information

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Exotic	SNA	Exotic	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer, the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Flora North America treatment for Berberidaceae
Flora North America treatment for Berberis vulgaris
Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
International Plant Names Index
Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Range and Status Information Links

Burke Museum of Natural History (Washington State records)
CalFlora
Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria records
Jepson Interchange
NatureServe Explorer
USDA

Additional Photo Sources

Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
Google Image Search
Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
General Botanical References for BC

Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-05-18 3:32:09 AM ]

Disclaimer: The information contained in the E-Flora atlas pages is derived from expert sources as cited in each section. This information is scientifically based. E-Flora also acts as a portal to other sites via deep links. As always, users should refer to the original sources for complete information. E-Flora BC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the original information.