Common Name: barberry
Type: Broadleaf evergreen
Family: Berberidaceae
Native Range: Southwestern China
Zone: 5 to 7
Height: 5.00 to 6.00 feet
Spread: 5.00 to 6.00 feet
Bloom Time: May
Bloom Description: Pale yellow
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Dry to medium
Maintenance: Medium
Suggested Use: Hedge
Flower: Showy, Fragrant
Leaf: Evergreen
Fruit: Showy
Other: Winter Interest, Thorns
Tolerate: Dry Soil
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Tolerates dry soils. Intolerant of poorly drained wet soils.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Berberis replicata, commonly called barberry, is a spiny, broad-rounded shrub with arching branches clad with oblong-lanceolate evergreen leaves (to 1" long). Leaf margins are replicate (turned backward) as indicated by the specific epithet. Fragrant, pale yellow flowers in clusters bloom in late spring. Flowers are followed by small oblong red berries which mature in fall to purplish-black. This shrub typically matures to 5-6' tall and as wide. It is native to mountain slopes, thickets and road margins in the Yunnan province of China.
Genus name comes from the Latinized form of the Arabian name for the fruit.
Specific epithet means doubled back or folded.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Some susceptibility to wilt, rust and root rot.
Uses
Accent for small areas in the landscape. Foundations. Shrub borders. Filler plant. Edging or small hedge.