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''Berberis napaulensis'' is a shrub in the family
/ref>Flora of China, vol 19, 2011.
/ref> This species is used medicinally throughout the Sikkim Eastern Himalayas.
''Berberis napaulensis'' is a shrub or small tree that can be 1–7 meters tall. Leaves are up to 61 centimeters long, with 5-12 pairs of leaflets plus a larger terminal leaflet, all shiny above, yellowish-green below. Flowers are yellow, borne in a large
As of 2023 there are two recognized subspecies the former ''Mahonia pycnophylla'' and the
Berberidaceae
The Berberidaceae are a family (biology), family of 18 genera of flowering plants commonly called the barberry family. This family is in the order (biology), order Ranunculales. The family contains about 700 known species, of which the majority ...
described as a species in 1821. It is native to China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
(Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
, Yunnan
Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...
, Guangxi
Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
, and Sichuan
Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...
) and the Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
(Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
, Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
, Sikkim
Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...
, Assam
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
, Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
).Flora of China Vol. 19 Page 779 尼泊尔十大功劳 ni bo er shi da gong lao ''Mahonia napaulensis'' Candolle/ref>Flora of China, vol 19, 2011.
/ref> This species is used medicinally throughout the Sikkim Eastern Himalayas.
Description
''Berberis napaulensis'' is a shrub or small tree that can be 1–7 meters tall. Leaves are up to 61 centimeters long, with 5-12 pairs of leaflets plus a larger terminal leaflet, all shiny above, yellowish-green below. Flowers are yellow, borne in a large panicle
In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...
. Berries are spherical, deep purple, 5–7 millimeters in diameter.
Taxonomy
''Berberis napaulensis'' was initially scientifically described and named byAugustin Pyramus de Candolle
Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss people, Swiss botany, botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple ...
as ''Mahonia napaulensis'' in 1821. As part of a long running debate between botanists on if ''Mahonia
''Mahonia'' is a formerly accepted genus of approximately 70 species of shrubs or, rarely, small trees with evergreen leaves in the family Berberidaceae, native to eastern Asia, the Himalaya, North America, and Central America. They are closely ...
'' should be a synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
of ''Berberis
''Berberis'' (), commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from tall, found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world (apart from Australia). Species diversity is greatest in South America a ...
'', Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel
Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel (3 August 1766 – 15 March 1833) was a German botanist and physician who published an influential multivolume history of medicine, ''Versuch einer pragmatischen Geschichte der Arzneikunde'' (1792–99 in four vol ...
classified it as ''Berberis napaulensis'' in 1825. A paper was published by Joseph Edward Laferrière
Joseph Edward Laferrière (born 1955) is an American botanist with a particular interest in ethnobotany.
He obtained his Ph.D. from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona in 1991 with a dissertation title ...
in 1997 summarized the arguments in favor of ''Berberis'' as the correct classification. As of 2023 this is the most common classification by botanists.
Subspecies
As of 2023 there are two recognized subspecies the former ''Mahonia pycnophylla'' and the autonym
Autonym may refer to:
* Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym
* Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name
See also
* Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...
. There are botanical synonym
In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
...
s listed by Plants of the World Online
Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online taxonomic database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
History
Following the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew launched Plants of the World Online i ...
for each of the subspecies recognized there, a very large number in the case of ''Berberis napaulensis'' var. ''napaulensis''.
''Berberis napaulensis'' var. ''napaulensis''
''Berberis napaulensis'' var. ''pycnophylla'' (Fedde) Laferr.
Ecology
InChiang Mai Province
Chiang Mai is the largest Provinces of Thailand, province (''changwat'') of Thailand by area. It lies in Northern Thailand#Regional classification of northern Thailand, upper northern Thailand and has a population of 1.78 million people. It ...
, Thailand, a species of rust fungus
Rusts are fungal plant pathogens of the order Pucciniales (previously known as Uredinales) causing plant fungal diseases.
An estimated 168 rust genera and approximately 7,000 species, more than half of which belong to the genus ''Puccinia'', are ...
''Pucciniosira cornuta'' (synonym of '' Gambleola cornuta'' ) infects ''Berberis nepalensis''.
Traditional uses
In the Nilgiris, it is of religious and medicinal importance to the nativeToda people
The Toda people are a Dravidian people, Dravidian ethnic group who live in the states and union territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. Before the 18th century and British colonisation, the Toda coexisted locally with other ...
of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
, who call it "Thovari" in '' their language.'' They use a paste made of the bark as a Traditional medicine
Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...
remedy for women immediately after childbirth. The Toda also use a water extracted from the leaves to purify their temples after women have entered them, as women are forbidden from Toda temples.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17792720 napaulensis Flora of Asia Shrubs Plants described in 1821