柳叶小檗 liu ye xiao bo

Berberis brachypoda Maximowicz var. salicaria (Fedde) C. K. Schneider; B. giraldii Hesse; B. mitifolia Stapf.

Shrubs, deciduous, 1-2.5 m tall. Branches yellow-gray, angulate, sparsely pubescent; shoots pale yellow, glabrous, not verruculose; spines 3-fid, rarely simple, concolorous, 1-5 cm. Petiole 1-3 cm; leaf blade abaxially shiny, pale green, adaxially dark green, lanceolate, 6-12 × 1-4 cm, papery, abaxially puberulous, veins raised, adaxially glabrous, midvein flat, lateral and reticulate veins conspicuous, base attenuate, margin 15-40-spinose-serrate on each side, apex acute or subacuminate. Inflorescence a spikelike raceme, 25-50-flowered, 7-17 cm; rachises reddish, sometimes pedunculate; bracts lanceolate, 3-4 mm. Pedicels ca. 2 mm, stout, glabrous; bractlets ovate, apex acute. Sepals in 3 whorls; outer sepals oblong-ovate, ca. 2.5 × 1.5 mm; median sepals oblong-elliptic, ca. 3 × 2 mm; inner sepals obovate, ca. 5 × 4 mm. Petals oblong-obovate, 5-6 × 2.5-3 mm, base clawed, with separate glands, apex emarginate. Stamens 4-4.5 mm; anther connective not prolonged, truncate. Ovules 2. Berry red, obovoid-ellipsoid, 9-10 × ca. 6 mm, slightly pruinose, style not persistent; seeds 1 or 2, brown, oblong, ca. 6 × 2-2.5 mm. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Aug-Sep.

● Sparse forests, forest margins; ca. 1200 m. Gansu, Hubei, Shaanxi.