Berberis japonica

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Berberis japonica
Mahonia japonica4.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. japonica
Binomial name
Berberis japonica
Synonyms [1]
  • Aquifolium japonicum (Thunb.) Raf.
  • Berberis japonica var. gracillima (Fedde) Rehder
  • Berberis tikushiensis (Hayata) Laferr.
  • Ilex japonica Thunb.
  • Mahonia japonica (Thunb.) DC.
  • Mahonia japonica var. gracillima Fedde
  • Mahonia tikushiensis Hayata

Berberis japonica is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, native to Taiwan. [2] 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. [3]

Description

It is an evergreen shrub growing to 2 m (7 ft) tall by 3 m (10 ft) wide. [4] The foliage is pinnate, glossy dark green above, paler beneath, and sharply toothed. Each leaf usually has six to eight pairs of leaflets together with a single terminal leaflet. The plant produces new shoots regularly from the base, so it is clothed in foliage at all levels.

The small, scented, yellow flowers are borne from autumn through winter into spring. The inflorescences are 25 cm or more long, at first arching and then pendant. Blue or black fruits develop in spring and summer. [2] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Taxonomy

Berberis japonica was initially scientifically described and named by Carl Peter Thunberg as Ilex japonica in 1784, believing it to be a true holly. [1] In 1821 Augustin Pyramus de Candolle reclassified it as Mahonia japonica. Disagreeing with this, Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel classified it in Berberis as Berberis japonica in 1825. [1] A paper was published by Joseph Edward Laferrière in 1997 summarized the arguments for Mahonia being more properly classified as a synonym of Berberis. [9] As of 2023 this is the most common classification by botanists. [1]

Cultivation

The plant is much grown as an ornamental shrub, and for use in landscapes. It is of value for its bold foliage, flowers in flowering season, and as a groundcover landscape shrub. Its spiny foliage invite use in security hedging.

Berberis japonica has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [10] [11] The hybrid between it and Berberis oiwakensis subsp. lomariifolia is also a popular garden plant. Known as Berberis × hortensis, several cultivars have been developed from it, including 'Charity', 'Winter Sun' and 'Lionel Fortescue'. [12] A hybrid with Berberis napaulensis var. napaulensis (M. siamensis), called Mahonia × lindsayae 'Cantab', though less well known, is a useful garden plant [13] and also holds an Award of Garden Merit. [4]

Berberis bealei, native to mainland China [14] and also widely cultivated, is usually treated as a separate species, but in the past has been listed as a cultivar of Berberis japonica. [3] Its most obvious differences from B. japonica are in shorter, upright flowering racemes and wider leaflets.

Related Research Articles

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Forsythia, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive family Oleaceae. There are about 11 species, mostly native to eastern Asia, but one native to southeastern Europe. Forsythia – also one of the plant's common names – is named after William Forsyth.

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

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 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.

<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

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<i>Euonymus japonicus</i> Species of flowering plant

Euonymus japonicus is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, native to Japan, Korea and China. It is an evergreen shrub or small tree growing to 2–8 m tall, with opposite, oval leaves 3–7 cm long with finely serrated margins. The flowers are inconspicuous, greenish-white, 5 mm diameter. In autumn, orange fruit hangs below the flaring pink seed coverings.

<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 thunbergii</i> Species of plant

Berberis thunbergii, the Japanese barberry, Thunberg's barberry, or red barberry, is a species of flowering plant in the barberry family Berberidaceae, native to Japan and eastern Asia, though widely naturalized in China and North America, where it has become a problematic invasive in many places, leading to declines in species diversity, increased tick habitat, and soil changes. Growing to 1 m tall by 2.5 m broad, it is a small deciduous shrub with green leaves turning red in the autumn, brilliant red fruits in autumn and pale yellow flowers in spring.

<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.

<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.

Berberis × hortensis is an interspecific hybrid shrub. Its parents are Berberis oiwakensis and Berberis japonica. It was raised in gardens during the 20th century, and has become an important garden and landscape plant.

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

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 harrisoniana</i> Species of shrub

Berberis harrisoniana is a rare species of flowering plant in the barberry family, Berberidaceae. It is known by the common names Kofa barberry, Kofa Mountain barberry, Harrison's barberry, and red barberry.

<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 bealei</i> Species of shrub

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.

Berberis hancockiana is a species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae, first described in 1917. It is endemic to Yunnan Province in southwestern China.

Berberis longibracteata is a shrub in the family Berberidaceae, first described as a species in 1917. It is endemic to China, found in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces.

Berberis monyulensis is a shrub in the family Berberidaceae first described as a species in 1961. It is endemic to Tibet.

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

Berberis napaulensis Nepali: जमाने मान्द्रो is a shrub in the family Berberidaceae described as a species in 1821. It is native to China and the Himalayas. This species is used medicinally throughout the Sikkim Eastern Himalayas.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Berberis japonica (Thunb.) Spreng". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  2. 1 2 Flora of China v 19 p 781, Mahonia japonica
  3. 1 2 Bayton, Ross (2017). "The identity of Mahonia japonica". The Plantsman. New Series. 16 (4): 244–248.
  4. 1 2 RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN   978-1405332965.
  5. Thunberg, Carl Peter. 1784. Flora Japonica 77, Ilex japonica
  6. Brown, Robert. 1818. Observations systematical and geographical on the herbarium collected by Professor Christian Smith, in the vicinity of the Congo: during the expedition to explore that river, under the command of Captain Tuckey in the year 1816. London, App. 22, Berberis japonica
  7. Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de. 1821. Regni Vegetabilis Systema Naturale 2: 22.
  8. Hayata, Bunzô. 1915. Icones plantarum formosanarum nec non et contributiones ad floram formosanam 5: 5–6, Mahonia tikushiensis
  9. Laferrière, Joseph Edward (1997). "Transfer of Specific and Infraspecific Taxa from Mahonia to Berberis (Berberidaceae)". Botanicheskii Zhurnal. 82 (9): 95–97. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  10. "RHS Plantfinder - Mahonia japonica" . Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  11. "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 62. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  12. Brickell, C.D. (1979). "The hybrids between Berberis japonica and M. lomariifolia". The Plantsman. 1: 12–20.
  13. Cullen, J. (2012). "Mahonia × lindsayae 'Cantab'". Curtis's Botanical Magazine. 29 (2): 122–136. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8748.2012.01778.x.
  14. Flora of China v 19 p 778, Mahonia bealei