Berberis chitria Buchanan-Hamilton ex Ker Gawler var. sikkimensis C. K. Schneider, Bull. Herb. Boissier, sér. 2, 5: 453. 1905; B. sikkimensis var. baileyi Ahrendt; B. sikkimensis var. glabramea Ahrendt.

Shrubs, semi-evergreen, 1.5-2.5 m tall. Branches dark gray, glabrous or scarcely verruculose; shoots pale yellow, glabrous, sulcate; spines 3-fid, pale yellow, 0.5-2 cm, adaxially slightly sulcate. Leaves shortly petiolate; leaf blade abaxially yellow-green, adaxially deep green, obovate or obovate-elliptic, 1.5-2.7 cm × 5-10 mm, leathery, abaxially pruinose, becoming glabrous, scarcely papillose, midvein slightly raised, lateral veins 2-4 pairs, adaxially slightly shiny, midvein flat, both surfaces with conspicuous reticulate veins, base cuneate, margin entire, sometimes 1-5-spinose-serrate on each side, apex acute or rounded, mucronate. Inflorescence a panicle or raceme, 3-20-flowered, 3-5 cm including peduncle 0.5-2 cm. Pedicels 4-8 mm, glabrous; bractlets yellow, sepaloid, ca. 2 × 1.6 mm, apex acute. Sepals in 2 whorls; outer sepals ovate, 3.5-4 × 2.5-3 mm, apex acute; inner sepals broadly elliptic, 7-8 × ca. 5 mm. Petals obovate, ca. 6 × 4 mm, base clawed, with separate glands, apex entire or slightly crenulate. Stamens ca. 6 mm; anther connective prolonged, subapiculate. Ovules 4. Berry dark red, narrowly ovoid, ca. 15 × 4.5 mm, not pruinose, often slightly curved, style ca. 1.5 mm. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Aug.

Mixed forests, forest margins, thickets; 2000-3000 m. Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India (Sikkim), Nepal].