5. Berberis approximata Sprague, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew. 1909: 256. 1909.
近似小檗 jin si xiao bo
Berberis dictyophylla Franchet var. approximata (Sprague) Rehder; B. stiebritziana C. K. Schneider.
Shrubs, deciduous, 1-1.5 m tall. Stems dark brown, angulate, glabrous, sparsely verruculose; shoots reddish brown; spines 3-fid, gray or pale yellow, 1-2.1 cm, adaxially subsulcate. Leaf blade adaxially pale green, narrowly obovate, obovate, or narrowly elliptic, 1-2.2 cm × 4-7 mm, papery, abaxially pruinose, conspicuously reticulate veined, base cuneate, margin entire or 1-7-spinose-serrate on each side, apex rounded or acute. Flowers solitary. Pedicels 3-7 mm, glabrous. Sepals in 2 whorls; outer sepals elliptic, ca. 4.5 × 3 mm; inner sepals obovate, 6-7 × 3.5-4 mm. Petals obovate or elliptic, ca. 5 × 3.2 mm, base clawed, with closely spaced glands, apex slightly emarginate; lobes acute. Stamens ca. 3.5 mm; anther connective truncate. Ovules 4-6, shortly funiculate. Berry red, ovoid, 8-10 × 6-7 mm, slightly pruinose, style persistent. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Sep-Oct.
● Mountain slopes, thickets, forests, forest margins; 2900-4300 m. Qinghai, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan.
This species is a dominant species of thickets in the Xiangcheng region of Sichuan.