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Berberis johannis Ahrendt

Modern name

Berberis johannis Ahrendt

A deciduous shrub to 7 ft high, erect in some forms but in others of spreading habit. Stems slender and glabrous, with short and thin three-parted spines. Leaves less than 1 in. long, obovate and tapering to a short petiole, dull green above and greyish beneath, margins entire or with a few spines. Flowers borne in May in umbels or condensed racemes of three to seven flowers, the peduncle and individual flower-stalks coloured red. Berries bright red, narrow, with a waist near the middle and somewhat bent above it. Bot. Mag., n.s., t. 57.

Native of S.E. Tibet; introduced by Kingdon Ward in 1924 (KW 5936) from Tumbatse, where he collected the famous Primula florindae in the same autumn. It is a vigorous and hardy shrub, which grows quickly from seed and is very decorative in late autumn. It has been confused with B. gyalaica (q.v.).


Genus

Berberis

Other species in the genus