''Berberis aquifolium'', the Oregon grape or holly-leaved barberry, is a North American species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the family

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 ...

. It is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

shrub growing up to tall and wide, with

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and ...

leaves consisting of spiny leaflets, and dense clusters of yellow

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s in early spring, followed by dark bluish-black

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone fruit, stone or pit (fruit), pit although many wikt:pip#Etymology 2, pips or seeds may be p ...

. The berries are a part of the traditional diet of some

indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and prac ...

and the species serves as the

state flower This is a list of U.S. state, federal district, and territory flowers. See also *List of U.S. state trees * Lists of U.S. state insignia References External linksList of state flowers {{USStateLists * U.S. state flowers Flowers ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Description

''Berberis aquifolium'' grows to tall by wide. The stems and twigs have a thickened, corky appearance. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are pinnate and up to long, comprising spiny leaflets. The leathery leaves resemble those of

holly ''Ilex'' () or holly is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

. The yellow flowers are borne in dense clusters long in late spring. Each of the six

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s terminates in two spreading branches. The six yellow petals are enclosed by six yellow

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s. At the base of the flower are three greenish-yellow

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

s, less than half as long as the sepals. The spherical berries are up to wide, dark dusty-blue, and tart in taste.

Chemistry

''Berberis aquifolium'' contains 5'-methoxyhydnocarpin (5'-MHC), a multidrug resistance pump inhibitor, which works to decrease bacterial resistance ''

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning ''in glass'', or ''in the glass'') Research, studies are performed with Cell (biology), cells or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in ...

''.

Taxonomy

Some botanists continue to place part of the barberry genus ''

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 ...

'' in a separate genus, ''Mahonia''. Under this classification ''Berberis aquifolium'' is named ''Mahonia aquifolium''. As of 2023

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 ...

(POWO) classifies it as ''Berberis aquifolium'' with no valid subspecies. '' Berberis dictyota'' is considered a

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

Etymology

The Latin

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

''aquifolium'' denotes "sharp-leafed" (as in ''

Ilex aquifolium ''Ilex aquifolium'', the holly, common holly, English holly, European holly, or occasionally Christmas holly, is a species of flowering plant in the family Aquifoliaceae, native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest As ...

'', the common holly), referring to the spiny foliage. ''Berberis aquifolium'' is not closely related to either the true holly (''Ilex aquifolium'') or the true grape (''

Vitis ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...

''), but its common name, ''Oregon-grape holly'' comes from its resemblance to these plants.

Distribution and habitat

''Berberis aquifolium'' is a

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equi ...

in the North American West from

Southeast Alaska Southeast Alaska, often abbreviated to southeast or southeastern, and sometimes called the Alaska(n) panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian provi ...

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

to central

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, often occurring in the understory of

Douglas-fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...

forests (although other forest types contain the species) and in brushlands in the Cascades, Rockies, and northern

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

Ecology

As with some other ''Berberis'', ''B. aquifolium'' can serve as an alternate host for

wheat yellow rust Wheat yellow rust (''Puccinia striiformis'' f.sp. ''tritici''), also known as wheat stripe rust, is one of the three major wheat Rust (fungus), rust diseases, along with Stem rust, stem rust of wheat (''Puccinia graminis'' f.sp. tritici) and Le ...

(''Puccinia striiformis'' f. sp. ''tritici'', which usually prefers

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

), but it is unknown whether this occurs naturally. In some areas outside of its native range, ''B. aquifolium'' has been classified as an invasive

exotic species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

that may displace native vegetation.

Cultivation

''Berberis aquifolium'' is a popular subject in shady or woodland plantings. It is valued for its striking foliage and flowers, which often appear before those of other shrubs. It is resistant to summer drought, tolerates poor soils, and does not create excessive

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

. Its berries attract birds. Numerous

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s and hybrids have been developed, of which the following have gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

: * ''M.'' × ''wagneri'' 'Pinnacle' (''B. aquifolium'' × '' Berberis pinnata'') * 'Apollo'

Uses

The small purplish-black fruits, which are quite tart and contain large seeds, are edible raw after the season's first frosts. They were included in small quantities in the traditional diets of Pacific Northwest tribes, mixed with

salal ''Gaultheria shallon'' is an evergreen shrub in the heather family (Ericaceae), native to western North America. Common names include salal (), shallon, or (mainly in Britain) gaultheria. Description ''Gaultheria shallon'' is tall, sprawli ...

or another sweeter fruit. Today, they are sometimes used to make jelly, alone or mixed with salal. Oregon-grape juice can be fermented to make wine, similar to European barberry wine folk traditions, although it requires an unusually high amount of sugar. The inner bark of the larger stems and roots of Oregon grape yield a yellow dye. The berries contain a dye that can be purple, blue, pink, or green depending on the pH of water used to make the dye, due to the berries containing a naturally occurring pH indicator.

Medicinal uses

Some

Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau, also referred to by the phrase Indigenous peoples of the Plateau, and historically called the Plateau Indians (though comprising many groups) are Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people ...

use Oregon grape for indigestion. The plant contains

berberine Berberine is a Quaternary ammonium cation, quaternary ammonium salt from the protoberberine group of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, occurring naturally as a secondary metabolite in some plants including species of ''Berberis'', from which its name ...

and reportedly has

antimicrobial An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms (microbicide) or stops their growth (bacteriostatic agent). Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they are used to treat. For example, antibiotics are used aga ...

properties similar to those of

goldenseal Goldenseal (''Hydrastis canadensis''), also called orangeroot or yellow puccoon, is a perennial herb in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to North America. It may be distinguished by its thick, yellow knotted rootstock. The stem is pur ...

In culture

In 1899, Oregon-grape was recognized as the

References

External links

* The Oregon Grape in "Our State Flowers: The Floral Emblems Chosen by the Commonwealths", '' The National Geographic Magazine'', XXXI (June 1917), pp. 481–517.
''Mahonia aquifolium'' images at bioimages.vanderbilt.eduJepson eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Berberis aquifolium''Calflora Database: ''Berberis aquifolium'' (Oregon grape, mountain grape)Flora of North America @ efloras.org: ''Berberis aquifolium''
— syn; formerly: ''Mahonia aquifolium''
UC Photos gallery: ''Berberis aquifolium''
from Botanical.com {{Taxonbar, from2=Q158303, from1=Q126902242 aquifolium Flora of Western Canada Flora of the Western United States Flora of Alaska Flora of California Symbols of Oregon Plants used in Native American cuisine Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Bird food plants Butterfly food plants Garden plants of North America Drought-tolerant plants Flora without expected TNC conservation status