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Portrait of Oregon grape

Nature · Shrubs

Oregon grape

Neophyte · from western North America · evergreen, 0.5–1 m · flowers Mar–Jun · hedges, woods, waste ground

Berberis aquifolium (Mahonia aquifolium) — Berberidaceae

Oregon grape is the low, glossy, holly-leaved evergreen of shrubberies and roadside plantings, with bright yellow flowers in spring and blue-black berries in summer, which birds carry into hedges and woods. It is very widely naturalised in Britain, especially in central and eastern England, north to Inverness. Its leaves resemble holly, but it is a barberry, not a holly or a vine.

How to spot them

  • ▸Evergreen shrub 0.5 to 1 m with glossy, holly-like pinnate leaves of 5 to 9 spiny-toothed leaflets, purplish in winter
  • ▸Dense upright clusters of small lemon-yellow flowers in spring, with touch-sensitive stamens
  • ▸Blue-black berries with a waxy bloom in July, in grape-like clusters
  • ▸Often forms suckering colonies under trees and in hedge bottoms
  • ▸Look-alikes: holly has single leaves on the stem and red berries; the pinnate spiny leaf and yellow flower are unmistakable

How to know it

A low evergreen with glossy holly-like leaves made of spiny leaflets, yellow spring flowers and blue-black grape-like berries

Oregon grape — Berberis (Mahonia) aquifolium.

When an insect touches the base of the stamens in its flowers they spring inward and dab pollen on the visitor

Oregon grape.

Its berries ripen in July, when young blackbirds and thrushes need food, and birds carry the seed into the wild

Oregon grape.

Old British names such as 'jaundice tree' and 'jaunders berry' record its use against jaundice

Oregon grape.

Native to western North America, it is now very widely naturalised in Britain, especially in central and east England and as far north as Inverness

Oregon grape.

Its former genus name honours the American nurseryman Bernard McMahon

Oregon grape — Mahonia.

Quick-fire facts

  • •Berberis aquifolium, formerly Mahonia aquifolium, family Berberidaceae; aquifolium means 'holly-leaved'
  • •Native to western North America; a neophyte and a widely naturalised garden escape in Britain (BSBI)
  • •Drooping bunches of lemon-yellow flowers in May and June, with touch-sensitive stamens that release pollen when insects visit (BSBI)
  • •Black, grape-like berries in July, a time when juvenile blackbirds and mistle thrushes need food (BSBI)
  • •'Very widely naturalised in Britain, especially in central and eastern England', north to Inverness (BSBI)
  • •Traditional English names include jaundice tree and jaunders berry, from its use for jaundice (BSBI)
  • •RHS: vigorous, low-spreading, 0.5 to 1 m tall, with prickly leaves purplish in winter; berries are ornamental and not for eating
  • •Mahonia honours the Irish-American horticulturist Bernard McMahon
  • •Oregon grape is the state flower of Oregon

Drill it — 6 cards

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Sources