Berberis chrysosphaera Mulligan

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Berberis chrysosphaera' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/berberis/berberis-chrysosphaera/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

Tibet
Traditional English name for the formerly independent state known to its people as Bod now the Tibet (Xizang) Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. The name Xizang is used in lists of Chinese provinces.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
oblanceolate
Inversely lanceolate; broadest towards apex.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Berberis chrysosphaera' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/berberis/berberis-chrysosphaera/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

A dwarf evergreen shrub; young shoots glabrous, tinged red, slightly grooved, armed with slender, three-pronged spines up to 12 in. long. Leaves mostly oblanceolate but also narrowly oval, 12 to 112 in. long, 16 to 12 in. wide, borne in clusters of three to seven in the axils of the spines, dark glossy green above, white beneath, margined with slender teeth. Flowers yellow, 12 in. wide, borne singly from the axils of the clustered leaves in April and May, each on a slender stalk about 1 in. long. Fruits erect, blue-violet.

Native of S. Tibet, discovered and introduced by Kingdon Ward in 1933–4. It is closely related to B. candidula but has not the very distinctive close, compact, hemispherical shape of that species. It is an attractive plant for the rock garden or where space is restricted, and is quite hardy.