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Berberis ilicifolia is an evergreen, spiny shrub of 1 to 4 m from southern Chile and Argentina, grown for its holly-like leaves and blue-black berries. It is hardy and tolerant, and it does best in full sun to part shade with good drainage.
Berberis ilicifolia, sometimes called holly barberry or holly-leaved barberry is a medium to high, spiny shrub belonging to the barberries in the family Berberidaceae. The local name in Chile is michay. It has ovate leaves with a few teeth that end in spines, reminiscent of holly leaves. Its orange flowers grow with three to seven together, which later produce globose blue-black berries. The species is native to south of 40ºS in Argentina and Chile, where it grows in Nothofagus woods. Flowers are present from August to December, while ripe berries are available between November and March.
Holly barberry comprises the understory of lenga Nothofagus pumilio and ñire Nothofagus antarctica woods, together with hard log mayten Maytenus magellanica, Fuchsia magellanica and the smaller barberry species B. microphylla. The filaments are tactile, i.e. they suddenly jerk upright when touched, with the result that visiting insects will be showered with pollen. Stems have been used to make bows by the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, because the wood is sufficiently pliant and does not branch over sufficient length.
Tree Turmeric · American barberry · Darwin's Barberry · Berberis empetrifolia · Colorado barberry · Berberis ×hortensis · Barberry Family · Wintergreen barberry · Berberis laurina · Boxthorn Barberry · Berberis temolaica · Japanese barberry
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Berberis ilicifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
