Shrubs List |
Broadleaf List |
Deciduous List |
Barberry Family [Berberidaceae] |
Flowers: |
Berries: (edible but acrid) |
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8th April 2011, near Hawes, Yorkshire. | Photo: © RWD |
A deciduous shrub to 2m in height. |
8th April 2011, near Hawes, Yorkshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Leaves pear-shaped. |
8th April 2011, near Hawes, Yorkshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Leaves developing a reddish-purple tinge. |
8th April 2011, near Hawes, Yorkshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Flowers yellow with reddish splodges. |
8th April 2011, near Hawes, Yorkshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Flowers have 5 cup-shaped sepals which open to 180° around, and 5 curved petals which never fully open. |
8th April 2011, near Hawes, Yorkshire. | Photo: © RWD |
The 5 petals form a bell-shape. Anthers within bearing pollen. |
8th April 2011, near Hawes, Yorkshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Leaves entire lacking teeth or spines. Flowers in short and sparse fascicles. Barbs or spines on twigs are mostly simple, rather than 3-partite. |
8th April 2011, near Hawes, Yorkshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Leaves reddening. |
22nd Sept 2010, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
Often planted, as here. Leaves between 1 to 3cm long. |
22nd Sept 2010, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
In Autumn the leaves turn a brilliant red or red-purple. |
22nd Sept 2010, Walkden, Gtr M/cr. | Photo: © RWD |
Berries red, long and misshapen similar to those of Barberry. |
Easily mis-identified as : Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) but that has larger leaves (2.5 - 6cm, rather than 1-3cm) which do not turn red/purple and has yellow flowers lacking red splurges and spines that are 3-partite rather than just the (mostly) single barbs on Thunberg's Barberry. Your Author is not entirely convinced that the photos from near Hawes are actually those of Thunberg's Barberry, but they do look similar, especially when you consider that Clive Stace says that they can also have green leaves. And in the examples from there, the leaves are turning a muddy brown and the flowers do have bright red splurges of colour on then. The examples from Walkden do look more convincingly of Thunbergs's though, especially since they have smaller and much redder leaves. But who knows, both may be similar cultivars; they were certainly not growing wild. A great many cultivars exist and are widely planted alongside roads and in parks or gardens, from where they may occasionally be bird-sown into the wild. You are much more likely to find this growing in a garden. |
Berberis | thunbergii | ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ | Berberidaceae |
Berberis (Barberry) |
Barberry Family [Berberidaceae] |