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Berberis vulgaris
Also called Barberry, European barberry, Jaundice Berry, Piprage, European Berbery, Berbéris Vulgaire, Vinetteier
Common barberry is a deciduous, thorny shrub up to 4 m tall, grown for its tart red berries and ornamental form. It tolerates a wide range of conditions but is an invasive weed in parts of North America.
Berberis vulgaris, also known as common barberry, European barberry or simply barberry, is a shrub in the genus Berberis native to the Old World. It produces edible but sharply acidic berries, which people in many countries eat as a tart and refreshing fruit.
The main compounds are isoquinoline and protoberberine alkaloids; the primary constituents include berberine, oxyacanthine, palmatine, berberrubine, lambertine, obamegine, aromoline, columbamine, berlambine, tejedine, berbidine, and berbamine. The fruits were found to contain the terpenoids lupeol and oleanolic acid, as well as the steroids stigmasterol and stigmasterol glucoside.
The shrub is native to central and southern Europe, southern England, northwest Africa and western Asia; it is also naturalised in northern Europe and North America. In the United States and Canada, it has become established in the wild over an area from Nova Scotia to Nebraska, with additional populations in Colorado, Idaho, Washington state, Montana, and British Columbia. It is also cultivated in many countries.
The edible berries, though rich in vitamin C, have a very sharp or sour flavour and are not widely consumed because the thorny shrubs make them difficult to harvest.
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 vulgaris 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.
