Berberis jamesiana Forrest & W. W. Smith

Foodplant / open feeder
larva of Arge berberidis grazes on live leaf of Berberis jamesiana

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / parasite
Erysiphe berberidis parasitises Berberis jamesiana

Flowering from April to May; fruiting from June to September.

Berberis jamesiana is occurring in W Sichuan, SE Xizang, NW Yunnan of China.

Phylogeny of Berberis L. was constructed based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences (Kim et al., 2004). The phylogeny was basically congruent with the previous classification schemes at higher taxonomic levels, such as groups and subgroups. A well-known South America-Old World (mainly Asia) disjunctive distribution pattern of the simple-leaved Berberis was explained by a vicariance event occurring in the Cretaceous period.

Shrubs, deciduous, 1-3.5 m tall. Mature stems shiny, red or purple, not verruculose, subterete or sulcate; spines simple or 3-fid, semi-concolorous, 1.5-5 cm, stout, adaxially slightly sulcate. Petiole 1-3 mm; leaf blade abaxially gray-green, adaxially dull green, elliptic or oblong-obovate, 2.5-8 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, subleathery, abaxially sometimes slightly pruinose, midvein obviously raised adaxially, lateral and reticulate veins conspicuous abaxially, base cuneate, margin entire or closely spinuloseserrulate, apex rounded or retuse. Inflorescence a raceme, sometimes compound below, 20-40-flowered, 7-10 cm. Pedicel 7-10 mm, slender, glabrous; bractlets ovate, 2-2.5 mm long, ca. 1.5 mm wide, apex acute. Sepals in 2 whorls; outer sepals oblong-obovate, ca. 3 mm long, 2 mm wide; inner sepals narrowly obovate, ca. 4.5 mm long, 2.5 mm wide. Petals obovate or narrowly oblong-elliptic, ca. 4.5 mm long, 2 mm wide, base clawed, glands separate, apex emarginate, lobes acute. Stamens ca. 3 mm; anther connective prolonged, slightly apiculate. Ovules 2. Berry initially creamy white, ultimately light red or pink, translucent, not pruinose, subglobose, ca. 10 mm long, 7-8 mm wide; style not persistent.

Growing in thickets, forests, forest margins, riversides, mountain slopes; 2100-3600 m.