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Berberis thunbergii
Also called Thunberg's Barberry, Japanese Berberis
Japanese barberry is a small, thorny deciduous shrub grown for its colorful foliage and red berries, but it is an invasive species in much of North America. It tolerates a wide range of conditions, which is why it spread so readily.
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 (3 ft 3 in) tall by 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) 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.
Berberis thunbergii is widely grown as an ornamental plant, both in Japan and elsewhere in the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Numerous cultivars have been selected, including plants selected for yellow, dark red to violet, or variegated foliage, erect growth (for hedge use), and dwarf size. In Brazil, the plant is popularly known as Japanese barberis, and is widely cultivated in hedges and flower beds.
In cultivation in the UK, the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:
Tree Turmeric · American barberry · Darwin's Barberry · Berberis empetrifolia · Colorado barberry · Berberis ×hortensis · Berberis ilicifolia · Barberry Family · Wintergreen barberry · Berberis laurina · Boxthorn Barberry · Berberis temolaica
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Berberis thunbergii 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.
