Berberis fendleri A. Gray

A deciduous shrub up to 6 ft high, with stems and branches ‘shining as if varnished’. Leaves glossy green, lanceolate, 11⁄2 to 2 in. long, 3⁄8 to 1⁄2 in. wide; stalkless, toothed except at the base, produced in tufts of four or five. Flowers in six- to ten-flowered racemes 11⁄2 to 2 in. long, each flower 1⁄3 in. across, the outer segments orange-coloured, the inner ones yellow. Fruit red.

Native of western N. America; first found by Mr Fendler near Santa Fè, New Mexico, and afterwards at the forks of the Rio Grande in S. Colorado. It is at present little known and does not appear to have any particular value for gardens. It is interesting, geographically, as the only West N. American representative of the true barberries, as distinct from Mahonias.