Berberis vulgaris L.

Common barberry, barberry, berbery, European barberry, jaundice-berry, pipperidge bush

Similar barberry species

	Berberis koreana	Berberis thunbergii	You are here Berberis vulgaris
Common Name	Korean barberry	Japanese barberry	common barberry
Plant	Shrubs are 3–6′ (91–182 cm) around, with multiple smooth-barked spiny branches.	3–6′ (91–182 cm) high. Stems are woody and grooved. There are ¼″ (6.3 mm) thorns along the branches, which arch and overlap each other.	3–9½′ (1–3 m) in height, with grooved stems. There are ¼″ (6.3 mm) thorns along the branches.
Leaves	⅞–2½″ (2.5–7 cm) long, medium to dark green, alternate, edged with spiny teeth. In the fall, leaves are red-purple.	Bright green and spatula-shaped, much wider at the ends, about ¾″ (1.9 cm) long and ¼″ (6.3 mm) wide. In the fall, the leaves turn orange, deep red, or purple in color.	Oval, ¾–1¾″ (2–5 cm) × ⅜–¾″ (1–2 cm), finely toothed, in clusters that include a spine ⅛–¼″ (3–8 mm) long and 2-5 leaves.
Flowers	This shrub doesn’t just flower, it lights up like a searchlight! Flowers are ⅛″ (5 mm), bell-shaped, in dense bright yellow racemes on reddish branches. It flowers from May to June. (In the two specimens I have seen, the dur­ation of flowering was short, a few days.)	¼″ (6.3 mm) around and yellow, distributed along branches.	Yellow, ⅛–3/16″ (4–6 mm) across, in panicles 1–2″ (3–6 cm) long.
Fruit	Dense clusters of egg-shaped berries ripen to yellow and bright red. Berries are ⅛–¼″ (5–7.6 mm) long.	Berries are bright red, with a distinctive oval shape, ¼–⅜″ (7–10 mm) long and 1/16–3/16″ (3–5 mm) in diameter, distributed fairly evenly along branches.	Berries are bright red, with a distinctive oval shape, ¼–⅜″ (7–10 mm) long and 1/16–3/16″ (3–5 mm) in diameter, hanging in tight clusters.
Range/ Zones	USDA Zones: 4-8	USDA Zones: 4-8
Habitats	Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges.	Man-made or disturbed habitats, river or stream floodplains, forest edges, forests, meadows and fields.	Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges, forests, meadows and fields.

Berberis vulgaris description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.

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