Berberis aquifolium

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Berberis aquifolium
Mahonia aquifolium.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Berberidaceae
Genus: Berberis
Species:
B. aquifolium
Binomial name
Berberis aquifolium
Synonyms [1]
  • Berberis brevipes Greene
  • Berberis pinnata Banks ex DC.
  • Mahonia aquifolium (Pursh) Nutt.
  • Mahonia brevipes (Greene) Rehder
  • Mahonia diversifolia Sweet
  • Mahonia latifolia Dippel
  • Mahonia moseri Ahrendt
  • Mahonia moseriana Moser
  • Mahonia murrayana Dippel
  • Mahonia undulata Ahrendt
  • Odostemon aquifolius (Pursh) Rydb.
  • Odostemon brevipes (Greene) A.Heller
  • Odostemon nutkanus (DC.) Rydb.

Berberis aquifolium, the Oregon grape or holly-leaved barberry, is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, native to western North America. It is an evergreen shrub growing 1–3 meters (3–10 feet) tall and 1.5 m (5 ft) wide, with pinnate leaves consisting of spiny leaflets, and dense clusters of yellow flowers in early spring, followed by dark bluish-black berries. [2]

Contents

The berries are a part of the traditional diet of some indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, and the species is recognized as the state flower of Oregon.

Description

Berberis aquifolium grows to 1–3 metres (3+1⁄2–10 feet) tall [3] by 1.5 m (5 ft) wide. The stems and twigs have a thickened, corky appearance. The leaves are pinnate and up to 30 centimetres (12 inches) long, comprising spiny leaflets. The leathery leaves resemble those of holly. The yellow flowers are borne in dense clusters 3–6 cm (1+1⁄4–2+1⁄4 in) long in late spring. Each of the six stamens terminates in two spreading branches. The six yellow petals are enclosed by six yellow sepals. At the base of the flower are three greenish-yellow bracts, less than half as long as the sepals. The spherical berries are dark dusty-blue and tart in taste. [4] [5]

Chemistry

Berberis aquifolium contains 5'-methoxyhydnocarpin (5'-MHC), a multidrug resistance pump inhibitor, which works to decrease bacterial resistance in vitro . [6]

Taxonomy

Some botanists continue to place part of the barberry genus Berberis in a separate genus, Mahonia. [7] [8] [9] [10] Under this classification Berberis aquifolium is named Mahonia aquifolium. [11] As of 2023 Plants of the World Online (POWO) classifies it as Berberis aquifolium with no valid subspecies. [1]

Etymology

The Latin specific epithet aquifolium denotes "sharp-leafed" (as in Ilex aquifolium , the common holly), referring to the spiny foliage. [12] [ citation needed ]

Berberis aquifolium is not closely related to either the true holly (Ilex aquifolium) or the true grape ( Vitis ), but its common name, Oregon-grape holly comes from its resemblance to these plants. [13]

Distribution and habitat

Berberis aquifolium is a native plant in the North American West from Southeast Alaska to Northern California to central New Mexico, often occurring in the understory of Douglas-fir forests (although other forest types contain the species) and in brushlands in the Cascades, Rockies, and northern Sierra Nevada.[ citation needed ]

Ecology

The yellow flowers are pollinated by Bombus species, amongst other insects. Berberis aquifolium 4207.JPG
The yellow flowers are pollinated by Bombus species, amongst other insects.

As with some other Berberis, Berberis aquifolium can serve as an alternate host for Wheat yellow rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici; the primary host of Pst being wheat). However, in B. aquifolium this was only achieved by intentional inoculation in a lab, and it remains unknown whether this occurs naturally. [14]

In some areas outside its native range, Berberis aquifolium has been classified as an invasive exotic species that may displace native vegetation. [15] [16]

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. Its berries attract birds. [2]

Numerous cultivars and hybrids have been developed, of which the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit: [17]

Uses

Small fruits come in grape-like clusters Mahonia aquifolium fruit 2.jpg
Small fruits come in grape-like clusters

The small purplish-black fruits, which are quite tart and contain large seeds, are edible raw [20] after the season's first frosts. [21] They were included in small quantities in the traditional diets of Pacific Northwest indigenous peoples, mixed with salal or another sweeter fruit. Today, they are sometimes used to make jelly, alone or mixed with salal. [22] 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. [23]

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, [24] 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.[ original research? ]

Medicinal uses

Some Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau use Oregon grape for indigestion. [25]

The plant contains berberine and reportedly has antimicrobial properties similar to those of goldenseal. [26]

Culture

In 1899, Oregon-grape was recognized as the state flower of Oregon. [27]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Mahonia</i> Genus of flowering plants belonging to the barberry family

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 related to the genus Berberis and as of 2023 the majority of botanical sources list it as a synonym for Berberis.

<i>Berberis</i> Genus of flowering plants representing the barberry family

Berberis, commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from 1–5 m (3.3–16.4 ft) tall, found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world. Species diversity is greatest in South America and Asia; Europe, Africa and North America have native species as well. The best-known Berberis species is the European barberry, Berberis vulgaris, which is common in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and central Asia, and has been widely introduced in North America. Many of the species have spines on the shoots and all along the margins of the leaves.

<i>Ilex aquifolium</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Aquifoliaceae

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 Asia. It is regarded as the type species of the genus Ilex, which by association is also called "holly". It is an evergreen tree or shrub found, for example, in shady areas of forests of oak and in beech hedges. In the British Isles it is one of very few native hardwood evergreen trees. It has a great capacity to adapt to different conditions and is a pioneer species that repopulates the margins of forests or clearcuts.

<i>Berberis microphylla</i> Species of plant

Berberis microphylla, common name box-leaved barberry and Magellan barberry, in Spanish calafate and michay and other names, is an evergreen shrub, with simple, shiny box-like leaves. The calafate is native to southern Argentina and Chile and is a symbol of Patagonia. Berberis microphylla should not be confused with Mahonia microphylla, native to China.

<i>Berberis pinnata</i> Species of shrub

Berberis pinnata is a species of shrub in the barberry family. Common names include California barberry, wavyleaf barberry, and shinyleaf mahonia. It is similar to the Oregon-grape, and is sometimes called the California Oregon-grape.

<i>Berberis nervosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Berberis nervosa, commonly known as dwarf Oregon-grape, Cascade barberry, Cascade Oregon-grape, or dull Oregon-grape, is a flowering plant native to the northwest coast of North America from southern British Columbia south to central California, with an isolated population inland in northern Idaho. It is especially common in second growth, Douglas-fir or western redcedar forests, making use of those pools of sunlight that intermittently reach the ground.

<i>Berberis repens</i> Western North American species of barberry

Berberis repens commonly known as creeping mahonia, creeping grape holly, or creeping barberry, is a species of Berberis native to most of the western United States and two western provinces of Canada. It is low growing shrub that spreads by underground stems. As a species it is well adapted to fire and is a very common understory plant in western forests. An evergreen species, it provides food to deer and elk in winter and can make up a significant part of their diet. The berries are eaten by birds and small mammals, aiding it in spreading to recently disturbed areas. It has found use as a xeric ornamental plant and has escaped from cultivation in areas beyond its native range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berberine</span> Quaternary ammonium cation

Berberine is a 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 is derived.

<i>Berberis trifoliolata</i> Species of flowering plant

Berberis trifoliolata is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, in southwestern North America. Common names include agarita, agrito, algerita, currant-of-Texas, wild currant, and chaparral berry. The name Agarita comes from the Spanish verb agarrar, which means "to grab". The ending "-ita" is often added to little things, so agarita means "grabs a little". This was probably said because the bush is a bit scratchy but does not have significant spines. Typical characteristics are grey-green to blue-grey leaves, yellow flowers in February to April and the red berries appearing in May. The most important harvest organ are the berries, though the roots and seeds can also be used.

<i>Berberis oiwakensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Berberis oiwakensis is a species of plant in the barberry family, Berberidaceae. It is native to Taiwan, China and Myanmar, where it occurs at elevations of 600 to 3800 m. It has recently been found naturalized in South Africa.

<i>Berberis nevinii</i> Species of shrub

Berberis nevinii, known by the common name Nevin's barberry, is a species of flowering shrub in the barberry family.

<i>Berberis fremontii</i> Berry and plant

Berberis fremontii is a species of barberry known by the common name Frémont's mahonia.

<i>Berberis japonica</i> Species of flowering plant

Berberis japonica is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, native to Taiwan. Despite the name, it is not native to Japan, though it has been known in cultivation there for centuries. The wild origins of this species have long puzzled botanists, but wild plants in Taiwan, previously known under the name Mahonia tikushiensis, appear most similar to the cultivated forms of B. japonica.

<i>Berberis fortunei</i> Species of flowering plants

Berberis fortunei is a species of shrub in the family Berberidaceae, the barberry family, described in 1846. It is endemic to China, found in the provinces of Chongqing, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, and Zhejiang. It is grown as an ornamental in many lands, with common names including Chinese mahonia, Fortune's mahonia, and holly grape.

<i>Berberis vulgaris <span style="font-style:normal;">subsp.</span> australis</i> Species of shrub

Berberis vulgaris subsp. australis, synonym Berberis hispanica, is a shrub belonging to the family Berberidaceae and the genus Berberis. It is a woody plant and parts of the plant are considered toxic, although the berries are edible and juicy.

<i>Berberis haematocarpa</i> Species of shrub

Berberis haematocarpa, Woot. with the common names red barberry, red Mexican barbery, Colorado barberry and Mexican barberry, is a species in the Barberry family in southwestern North America. It is also sometimes called algerita, but that name is more often applied to its relative, Mahonia trifoliolata.

<i>Berberis julianae</i> Species of plant

Berberis julianae, the wintergreen barberry or Chinese barberry, is a flowering evergreen shrub native to Central China. It is widely grown as an ornamental in other temperate regions. It is reportedly naturalized in scattered parts of the United States.

<i>Berberis dictyota</i> Species of shrub

Berberis dictyota, now reclassified as Berberis aquifolium var. dictyota, with the common names Jepson's oregon grape and shining netvein barberry, is a flowering plant in the Barberry family.

<i>Berberis bealei</i> Species of flowering plants

Berberis bealei, also known as leatherleaf mahonia, Beale's barberry, is a species of evergreen shrub native to mainland China. The species has been regarded as the same species as Berberis japonica, native to Taiwan, but the two differ consistently in certain floral and leaf characters. Both species are widely cultivated in many countries as ornamentals. Berberis bealei has reportedly escaped cultivation and become established in the wild in scattered places in the south-eastern United States from Arkansas to Florida to Delaware.

<i>Berberis empetrifolia</i> Species of shrub

Berberis empetrifolia, sometimes called heath barberry, is a low, somewhat spiny shrub belonging to the barberries in the family Berberidaceae. The local names in Chile are zarcilla, monte negro and uva de la cordillera. It has small narrow entire leaves, and small yolk-colored flowers and later globose blue-black berries. The species is native to south of 30ºS in Argentina and Chile, where it grows on sunny, often gravelly soils, and is sometimes planted as an ornamental elsewhere in temperate climates.

References

  1. 1 2 "Berberis aquifolium Pursh". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN   978-1-4053-3296-5.
  3. ↑ "Landscape Plants: Mahonia aquifolium". Oregon State University: College of Agricultural Sciences - Department of Horticulture. Oregon State University. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  4. ↑ Williams, Michael P. (2012). "Berberis aquifolium, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.)". Jepson eFlora. Retrieved 2013-08-08.
  5. ↑ "Oregon Grape, Holly Leaved Barberry, Oregon Holly, Mahonia aquifolium". Wild Food UK. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
  6. ↑ Stermitz FR, Lorenz P, Tawara JN, Zenewicz LA, Lewis K (February 2000). "Synergy in a medicinal plant: antimicrobial action of berberine potentiated by 5'-methoxyhydnocarpin, a multidrug pump inhibitor". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97 (4): 1433–7. Bibcode:2000PNAS...97.1433S. doi: 10.1073/pnas.030540597 . PMC   26451 . PMID   10677479.
  7. ↑ Whittemore, Alan T. "Berberis in Flora of North America". efloras. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  8. ↑ Loconte, H., & J. R. Estes. 1989. Phylogenetic systematics of Berberidaceae and Ranunculales (Magnoliidae). Systematic Botany 14:565-579.
  9. ↑ Marroquín, Jorge S., & Joseph E. Laferrière. 1997. Transfer of specific and infraspecific taxa from Mahonia to Berberis. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 30(1):53-55.
  10. ↑ Laferrière, Joseph E. 1997. Transfer of specific and infraspecific taxa from Mahonia to Berberis. Bot. Zhurn. 82(9):96-99.
  11. ↑ "Mahonia aquifolium (Pursh) Nutt". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  12. ↑ Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. p. 224. ISBN   978-1-84533-731-5.
  13. ↑ MBG. "Berberis aquifolium". Plant Finder. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  14. ↑ Wang, M. N.; Chen, X. M. (2013). "First Report of Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium) as an Alternate Host for the Wheat Stripe Rust Pathogen (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) Under Artificial Inoculation". Plant Disease . 97 (6). American Phytopathological Society: 839. doi: 10.1094/pdis-09-12-0864-pdn . ISSN   0191-2917. PMID   30722629. S2CID   73433566.
  15. ↑ "North Carolina Botanical Garden / Conservation / Plants to Avoid in the Southeastern United States". Archived from the original on 2011-10-19. Retrieved 2007-05-13.
  16. ↑ Plants to Avoid in the Southeastern United States Tennessee Invasive Exotic Plant List
  17. ↑ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 62. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  18. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Mahonia × wagneri 'Pinnacle'" . Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  19. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector - Mahonia aquifolium 'Apollo'" . Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  20. ↑ Benoliel, Doug (2011). Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest (Rev. and updated ed.). Seattle, WA: Skipstone. p. 119. ISBN   978-1-59485-366-1. OCLC   668195076.
  21. ↑ Lyons, C. P. (1956). Trees, Shrubs and Flowers to Know in Washington (1st ed.). Canada: J. M. Dent & Sons. p. 196.
  22. ↑ Pojar, Jim; MacKinnon, Andy, eds. (1994). Plants of Coastal British Columbia: including Washington, Oregon & Alaska, rev. ed. Vancouver: Lone Pine Publishing. p. 95. ISBN   978-1-55105-532-9.
  23. ↑ Henderson, Robert K. (2000). The Neighbourhood Forager. Toronto, Ontario: Key Porter Books. p. 111. ISBN   1-55263-306-3.
  24. ↑ Bliss, Anne (1993). North American Dye Plants, rev. and enl. ed. Loveland, Colorado: Interweave Press. p. 130. ISBN   0-934026-89-0.
  25. ↑ Hunn, Eugene S. (1990). Nch'i-Wana, "The Big River": Mid-Columbia Indians and Their Land. University of Washington Press. p. 352. ISBN   0-295-97119-3.
  26. ↑ Codekas, Colleen (2020-07-16). "Foraging for Oregon Grape". Grow Forage Cook Ferment. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  27. ↑ "State Symbols: Dance to Hops - Flower, State". Oregon Blue Book. Oregon Secretary of State. 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
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