Berberidaceae
(Barberry Family)
Habit
- mostly shrubs
Leaves
- often
pinnate,
estipulate
Flowers
- small, clustered (not solitary);
tepals spirally arranged or in
whorls of 3
Stamens
- 3-6,
anthers opening by
pores with lids
Carpels
- 1,
superior,
placentation marginal
Fruit
- a
berry (in ours)
Diversity
- 16 genera / 600 species
Distribution
- north temperate zones
Economics
- mostly ornamental although berries eaten by birds,
Native Americans, made into jelly....one species, Berberis vulgaris,
planted as an ornamental, has been eradicated in
wheat-growing regions because it is the alternate
host for wheat
rust
Notes
-
Images
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