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Berberis haematocarpa

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Berberis haematocarpa
Berberis haematocarpa shoot
Berberis haematocarpa flower

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Berberidaceae
Genus: Berberis
Species:
B. haematocarpa
Binomial name
Berberis haematocarpa
Woot.
Synonyms

Mahonia haematocarpa (Woot.) Fedde
Berberis nevinii var. haematocarpa (Wooton) L. D. Benson

Berberis haematocarpa, Woot.[1] with the common names red barberry, red Mexican barbery, Colorado barberry and Mexican barberry, is a species in the Barberry family in southwestern North America.[2] It is also sometimes called algerita,[3] but that name is more often applied to its relative, Mahonia trifoliolata.

Distribution and habitat

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The shrub is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico at elevations of 900–2,300 metres (3,000–7,500 ft).[3] It grows on rocky slopes and canyons of mountains, in Pinyon-juniper woodlands, grasslands, and desert chaparral.[3] It is found on slopes and mesas in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, and Sonora.[2] It is also native to sky island habitats of the Mojave Desert in California and southwestern Nevada.[4]

Description

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Berberis haematocarpa is a shrub growing up to 3–4 m (9.8–13.1 ft) tall, with stiff and erect branches.[3]

It has thick, rigid pinnate leaves of several centimeters long. Each is made up of a few thick 3-7 lance-shaped leaflets with very spiny toothed edges. They are a glaucus whitish-gray in color, due to a thick cuticle of wax.[3]

The inflorescences bear 3 to 5 bright yellow flowers, each with nine sepals and six petals all arranged in whorls of three.[3] The plant blooms from February to June.[5]

The fruit is a juicy, edible deep red to purplish-red berry, spherical and up to 8 mm (0.31 in) across.[3][6][7]

Taxonomy

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The compound leaves place this species in the group sometimes segregated as the genus Mahonia, and classified as Mahonia haematocarpa.[8] [9][7][10][11][12]

Uses

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Native Americans of the Apache tribe used the plant's wood shavings for a yellow dye and as a traditional eye medicine, and it's fresh and preserved fruit for food.[13]

References

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  1. ^ Wooton, Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 25: 304. 1898.
  2. ^ a b "Berberis haematocarpa". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Flora of North America @ efloras.org: Berberis haematocarpa
  4. ^ Jepson eFlora (TJM2) treatment of Berberis haematocarpa
  5. ^ Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Information Network (NPIN): Mahonia haematocarpa (Red barberry, Algerita, Red Oregon-grape)
  6. ^ Laferriere, J.E. Berberidaceae, Barberry Family. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 26:2-4. 1992.
  7. ^ a b Flora of North America vol 3.
  8. ^ USDA: Mahonia haematocarpa
  9. ^ NatureServe Explorer.org: Comprehensive Species Report — Mahonia haematocarpa (Woot.) Fedde[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ Loconte, H., & J. R. Estes. 1989. Phylogenetic systematics of Berberidaceae and Ranunculales (Magnoliidae). Systematic Botany 14:565-579.
  11. ^ Marroquín, Jorge S., & Joseph E. Laferrière. 1997. Transfer of specific and infraspecific taxa from Mahonia to Berberis. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 30(1):53-55.
  12. ^ Laferrière, Joseph E. 1997. Transfer of specific and infraspecific taxa from Mahonia to Berberis. Bot. Zhurn. 82(9):96-99.
  13. ^ University of Michigan at Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany of Berberis haematocarpa
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