Berberis verruculosa
Common name: 
Warty Barberry
Pronunciation: 
BER-ber-is ver-uk-u-LO-sa
Family: 
Berberidaceae
Genus: 
Berberis
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Evergreen shrub, 3-5 ft (0.9-1.5 m), arching stiffly, very thorny 3-parted spines, 1.3-2.0 cm long.  Leaves alternate, simple, elliptic to ovate-lanceolate, tapering at both ends, leathery, lustrous green above and silver (glaucous) below, margins recurved and remotely spiny-toothed, purplish-green in winter.  Flowers small; fruit small (8 mm), blue-black, and rod-shaped.  Stems supposedly "warty" (verrucose), i.e. with rounded, more or less identical raised spots (Krüssmann, 1976).
  • Shade or part shade.  Any garden soil
  • Hardy to USDA Zone (5)6    Native to western China
  • Oregon State Univ. campus: west of Milam Hall.
Click image to enlarge
  • flowering branches, spring

    flowering branches, spring

  • flowers and thorns

    flowers and thorns

  • plant habit, summer

    plant habit, summer

  • leafy shoot

    leafy shoot

  • leaves

    leaves

  • thorns and underside leaves

    thorns and underside leaves

  • leaves, fall

    leaves, fall