Description from Flora of China

Shrubs, evergreen or deciduous. Branches glabrous or tomentose, spinose or not; spines simple or usually 3-5-fid. Leaves on short shoots, simple, alternate, usually petiolate. Inflorescences solitary or fascicled flowers, racemes, umbels, or panicles. Flowers 3-merous; bracteoles usually 3, caducous, scalelike. Sepals 6, rarely 3 or 9, yellow. Petals 6, yellow, bases nectariferous. Stamens opposite petals; anthers dehiscing by valves; pollen grains subspheroidal, exine reticulate. Ovary symmetrically club-shaped; ovules 1-12, rarely to 15, subbasal; styles very short. Fruit a berry, usually red, dark red, or black, globose, ellipsoid, oblong, ovoid, or obovoid. Seeds 1-10, tan to red-brown or black; aril absent. 2n = 14.

Many species of the genus are grown as ornamental shrubs and used for medicinal purposes.

Editors’ note. This treatment of Berberis was written solely by the Chinese author, Ying Junsheng. The non-Chinese co-author of the genus was to be Julian Harber (Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, U.K.), and the Berberidaceae were to be included in Flora of China Volume 7 (2008), but two months before that volume was sent to the printer, Ying rejected Harber’s revision, with the result that the Berberidaceae were postponed until the present volume. The treatment provided here is an edited version of the English manuscript provided by Ying and is essentially a translation of his earlier treatment in FRPS (29: 54-214. 2001). It has been edited only to follow the Flora of China format, to correct the usage of English, and to correct nomenclatural errors, including errors of bibliographic citation. The taxonomy and data provided in the descriptions and distributions have not been changed. The editors observe that 49 names based on Chinese material have apparently been overlooked or disregarded in this treatment. They are provided as an appendix at the end of the genus. Harber is currently preparing a thorough revision of Chinese Berberis, expanded from the joint treatment that was intended to appear in the Flora of China; it will include all taxa known to occur in China, will account for all names based on Chinese material, and will be published by Missouri Botanical Garden Press.

Additional names based on Chinese material

Editors’ note. The following names, all based on Chinese material, have not been accounted for in the above treatment by Ying Junsheng (see the comments at the beginning of the genus). This appendix is provided for information only, and no taxonomic opinions are expressed.

• Berberis acuminata Franchet, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 33: 387. 1887. De­scribed from Yunnan.
• Berberis ambigua Ahrendt, J. Bot. 79(Suppl.): 60. 1941. Described from cultivated material reputedly grown from seed collected in Yun­nan.
• Berberis angulosa Wallich ex J. D. Hooker & Thomson var. fasciculata Ahrendt, J. Bot. 79(Suppl.): 42. 1941. Described from Xizang.
• Berberis approximata Sprague var. campylogyna Ahrendt, J. Bot. 79 (Suppl.): 53. 1941 (B. dictyophylla Franchet var. campylogyna (Ahrendt) Ahrendt, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 57: 128. 1961). Described from Yunnan.
• Berberis aridocalida Ahrendt, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1939: 273. 1939 ["arido-calida"]. Described from cultivated material reputedly grown from seed collected in Gansu.
• Berberis atroprasina Ahrendt, Gard. Chron., ser. 3, 112: 155. 1942. De­scribed from cultivated material reputedly grown from seed col­lected in Yunnan.
• Berberis bodinieri H. Léveillé, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 9: 454. 1911, not (Gagnepain) Laferrière (1997). Described from Yunnan.
• Berberis buchananii C. K. Schneider var. tawangensis Ahrendt, J. Bot. 79(Suppl.): 37. 1941. Described from Xizang.
• Berberis calliantha Mulligan, Gard. Chron., ser. 3, 97: 394. 1935. De­scribed from Xizang.
• Berberis caroli C. K. Schneider, Bull. Herb. Boissier, sér. 2, 5: 459. 1905. Described from Nei Mongol.
• Berberis chinensis Poiret, Encycl. 8: 617. 1808. Described from culti­vated material in Paris and said to be native to China.
• Berberis consimilis C. K. Schneider, Oesterr. Bot. Z. 66: 324. 1916. De­scribed from cultivated material reputedly grown from seed col­lected in Sichuan.
• Berberis dasystachya Maximowicz var. pluriflora P. Y. Li, Acta Phyto­tax. Sin. 10: 213. 1965. Described from Gansu and Qinghai.
• Berberis faberi C. K. Schneider, Oesterr. Bot. Z. 67: 215. 1918. De­scribed from Sichuan.
• Berberis faxoniana C. K. Schneider, Oesterr. Bot. Z. 66: 325. 1916. De­scribed from cultivated material reputedly grown from seed col­lected in Sichuan or Yunnan.
• Berberis franchetiana C. K. Schneider var. gombalana C. Y. Wu & S. Y. Bao, Bull. Bot. Res., Harbin 5(3): 15. 1985. Described from Yun­nan.
• Berberis gagnepainii C. K. Schneider var. subovata C. K. Schneider, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 46: 264. 1939. Described from Si­chuan.
• Berberis heteropsis Ahrendt, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 57: 213. 1961. De­scribed from Guizhou and Sichuan.
• Berberis hookeri Lemaire subsp. longipes D. F. Chamberlain & C. M. Hu, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 42: 533. 1985. Described from Xizang.
• Berberis humidoumbrosa Ahrendt var. dispersa Ahrendt, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 57: 160. 1961. Described from Xizang.
• Berberis insignis J. D. Hooker & Thomson var. zelaica Ahrendt, J. Bot. 79(Suppl.): 9. 1941. Described from Xizang.
• Berberis integerrima Bunge var. stenophylla Maximowicz, Fl. Tangut. 29. 1889. Described from Gansu.
• Berberis jaeschkeana C. K. Schneider var. bimbilaica Ahrendt, J. Bot. 79(Suppl.): 65. 1941. Described from Xizang.
• Berberis jingguensis G. S. Fan & X. W. Li, J. Trop. Subtrop. Bot. 5(3): 1. 1997. Described from Yunnan.
• Berberis kartanica Ahrendt, J. Bot. 79(Suppl.): 68. 1941. Described from Xizang.
• Berberis mairei Ahrendt, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 57: 76. 1961. Described from Yunnan.
• Berberis oblanceifolia C. M. Hu, Bull. Bot. Res., Harbin 6(2): 12. 1986. Described from Hunan.
• Berberis oritrepha C. K. Schneider, Oesterr. Bot. Z. 67: 293. 1918. De­scribed from Shaanxi.
• Berberis orthobotrys Bienert ex Aitchison var. rupestris Ahrendt, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 57: 143. 1961. Described from Xizang.
• Berberis petrogena C. K. Schneider, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 46: 253. 1939. Described from Yunnan.
• Berberis pingbaensis M. T. An, Bull. Bot. Res., Harbin 28: 641. 2008. Described from Guizhou.
• Berberis poiretii C. K. Schneider f. weichangensis C. K. Schneider in Sargent, Pl. Wilson. 1: 372. 1913. Described from Hebei.
• Berberis praecipua C. K. Schneider, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 46: 248. 1939. Described from Hunan and Yunnan.
• Berberis pseudothunbergii P. Y. Li, Acta Phytotax. Sin. 10: 211. 1965. Described from Gansu and Shaanxi.
• Berberis rockii Ahrendt, J. Bot. 79(Suppl.): 72. 1941. Described from Yunnan.
• Berberis sanei T. Husain, Datt, Arti Garg & R. R. Rao, Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., B, Adansonia 17: 69. 1995. Described from Xizang.
• Berberis sinensis Desfontaines var. angustifolia Regel, Trudy Imp. S.-Peterburgsk. Bot. Sada 2: 416. 1873 (B. poiretii C. K. Schneider var. angustifolia (Regel) Nakai, Fl. Sylv. Kor. 21: 66. 1936). De­scribed from N and NE China.
• Berberis sphalera Fedde, Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 36(Beibl. 82): 44. 1905. De­scribed from Shaanxi.
• Berberis spraguei Ahrendt, Gard. Chron., ser. 3, 109: 101. 1941. De­scribed from cultivated material apparently originally collected in Yunnan.
• Berberis stearnii Ahrendt, Gard. Chron., ser. 3, 109: 101. 1941. De­scribed from cultivated material apparently originally collected in Yunnan.
• Berberis subsessiliflora Pampanini, Nuovo Giorn. Bot. Ital., n.s., 22: 293. 1915. Described from Hubei.
• Berberis tarokoensis S. Y. Lu & Yuen P. Yang, Fl. Taiwan, ed. 2, 2: 581. 1996. Described from Taiwan.
• Berberis thibetica C. K. Schneider, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 6: 268. 1909. Described from cultivated material reputedly grown from seed collected in Sichuan or Yunnan.
• Berberis trichohaematoides Ahrendt, J. Bot. 79(Suppl.): 62. 1941. De­scribed from Xizang.
• Berberis tsangpoensis Ahrendt, Gard. Chron., ser. 3, 109: 101. 1941. Described from Xizang.
• Berberis uniflora F. N. Wei & Y. G. Wei, Guihaia 15: 218. 1995. De­scribed from Guangxi.
• Berberis wanhuashanensis Yue Jin Zhang, Acta Bot. Boreal.-Occid. Sin. 11: 258. 1991. Described from Shaanxi.
• Berberis xinganensis G. H. Liu & S. Q. Zhou, Fl. Intramongol., ed. 2, 2: 712. 1991. Described from Nei Mongol.
• Berberis zayulana Ahrendt, J. Bot. 79(Suppl.): 64. 1941. Described from Xizang.

About 500 species: north temperate regions, a few in the S Hemisphere; 215 species (197 endemic, one introduced) in China.

(Authors: Ying Junsheng (应俊生 Ying Tsun-shen))