Berberis aquifolium
species of plant
Berberis aquifolium, the Oregon grape, holly-leaved barberry, or Mahonia, is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Berberidaceae. It is an evergreen shrub growing up to 3 metres (10 ft) tall and 1.5 m (5 ft) wide. It has pinnate leaves consisting of spiny leaflets, exhibiting dense clusters of yellow flowers in early spring, followed by dark bluish-black berries.
The berries are a part of the traditional diet of some indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest and the species serves as the state flower of Oregon.
Taxonomy
Some botanists continue to place part of the barberry genus Berberis in a separate genus, Mahonia. Under this classification Berberis aquifolium is named Mahonia aquifolium. As of 2023 Plants of the World Online classifies it as Berberis aquifolium with no valid subspecies.
Berberis dictyota is sometimes considered a variety of B. aquifolium, but is presently accepted by most authorities.
Etymology
The Latin specific epithet aquifolium denotes "sharp-leafed" (as in Ilex aquifolium, the common holly), referring to the spiny foliage.
Berberis aquifolium is not closely related to either the true holly (Ilex aquifolium) or the true grape (Vitis), but its common name, Oregon-grape holly comes from its resemblance to these plants.
The public source identifies “Berberis aquifolium” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Berberis, aquifolium and species.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Berberis aquifolium”, the useful work is to connect “species of plant” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q126902242. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2023.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Berberis aquifolium” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.