Berberis haematocarpa

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.

Berberis haematocarpa
Berberis haematocarpa shoot
Berberis haematocarpa flower
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

Distribution and habitat

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

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

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

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
  1. Wooton, Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 25: 304. 1898.
  2. "Berberis haematocarpa". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  3. 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. Flora of North America vol 3.
  8. USDA: Mahonia haematocarpa
  9. NatureServe Explorer.org: Comprehensive Species Report — Mahonia haematocarpa (Woot.) Fedde
  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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