Berberidaceae

Barberry Family

Berberidaceae, the barberry family, is a fascinating group of about 14 genera and approximately 700 species, primarily found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and the South American Andes. The family includes both woody shrubs, often evergreen and sometimes spiny (like Berberis, which now includes Mahonia), and perennial herbs (like Podophyllum, Epimedium). Many members are characterized by yellow inner bark or wood due to the presence of alkaloids like berberine, and distinctive flowers often with parts in threes.

Berberidaceae example - Berberis aquifolium (Oregon Grape)

Overview

The Barberry family is perhaps best known for the genus Berberis (barberries), which includes many ornamental shrubs valued for their foliage (often colorful), flowers, and berries. Molecular studies have led to the inclusion of the formerly separate genus Mahonia (Oregon grapes) within Berberis, although the common names persist. These woody members often have yellow inner bark and wood, a trait linked to the alkaloid berberine.

The family also includes several well-known herbaceous perennials from woodland habitats, such as Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) with its umbrella-like leaves, Barrenworts or Bishop's Hats (Epimedium species) popular as groundcovers, Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides), and Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla). Many species in the family have a history of use in traditional medicine, often related to their alkaloid content. Horticulturally, besides barberries, Epimedium species are highly valued in shade gardens.

Some Berberis species, like Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii), have become invasive in parts of North America, including potentially areas near Norman, Oklahoma where you are located (as of March 2025). Additionally, some barberries serve as alternate hosts for wheat stem rust, a significant agricultural disease, leading to eradication campaigns and restrictions in certain regions in the past.

Quick Facts

Scientific Name: Berberidaceae
Common Name: Barberry family
Number of Genera: Approximately 14 (including Mahonia within Berberis)
Number of Species: Approximately 700
Distribution: Primarily temperate Northern Hemisphere; also South American Andes and North Africa.
Evolutionary Group: Eudicots (Basal Eudicot)
Order: Ranunculales

Key Characteristics

Growth Form and Habit

Includes deciduous or evergreen shrubs (Berberis sensu lato) and rhizomatous perennial herbs (Podophyllum, Epimedium, Caulophyllum, Jeffersonia, Nandina - though Nandina is shrubby). Woody species frequently have yellow wood or inner bark.

Leaves

Leaves are usually alternate or basal (rarely opposite). They can be simple (sometimes reduced to spines in Berberis, with foliage leaves produced on short shoots) or compound (pinnately or ternately - e.g., 1-3 times ternately compound in Epimedium and Caulophyllum). Leaf margins vary from entire to serrate or spiny. Stipules are often absent or small.

Inflorescence

Flower arrangement is variable: flowers can be solitary (Podophyllum, Jeffersonia) or borne in racemes, panicles, cymes, or clusters (fascicles) often arising from leaf axils or terminally.

Flowers

Flowers are typically bisexual and actinomorphic (radially symmetric). A distinctive feature is the common occurrence of parts in whorls of three (trimerous arrangement), though other arrangements exist. Key features include:

Perianth: Often difficult to differentiate into distinct sepals and petals (tepals), or with multiple whorls. Commonly structured as 6 sepals (in 2 whorls of 3) and 6 petals (in 2 whorls of 3). Petals are often yellow, sometimes white, reddish, or purplish, and frequently bear nectaries near the base.
Androecium: Stamens usually 6 (typically opposite the petals), sometimes fewer or more. Anthers commonly open by two uplifting flaps (valvate dehiscence) rather than longitudinal slits. In many species (esp. Berberis), the stamens are sensitive to touch, snapping inwards towards the stigma when stimulated by a visiting insect, aiding in pollen placement.
Gynoecium: Ovary is superior and typically consists of a single carpel (unicarpellate), containing one to numerous ovules. The stigma is often sessile (no style) or on a very short style.

Fruits and Seeds

The fruit is most commonly a fleshy berry (e.g., Berberis, Caulophyllum, Podophyllum - which has a large multi-seeded berry). Some genera produce dry fruits, such as a follicle opening along one side (e.g., Epimedium) or a capsule-like structure (e.g., Jeffersonia opens via a lid). Seeds may sometimes possess an aril (a fleshy appendage).

Chemical Characteristics

The family is characterized by the production of isoquinoline alkaloids. Berberine is particularly common, especially in woody members, imparting a yellow color to tissues and possessing antimicrobial properties. Other alkaloids like podophyllotoxin (in Podophyllum, source of anti-cancer drugs but toxic), magnoflorine, and palmatine are also found. Saponins and lignans can also be present.

Field Identification

Identifying Berberidaceae involves recognizing its shrubby or herbaceous nature, distinctive leaf features, characteristic flower structure, and often yellow inner wood in shrubs.

Primary Identification Features

Habit: Shrub or perennial herb.
Yellow Inner Bark/Wood: Check cut stems of shrubs for bright yellow coloration (due to berberine).
Alternate Leaves: Leaves are usually alternate or basal (simple or compound).
Trimerous Flowers: Flower parts (sepals, petals, stamens) often in multiples of 3 (e.g., 6 sepals, 6 petals, 6 stamens).
Valvate/Sensitive Stamens: Anthers often open by flaps; stamens may snap inwards when touched (check carefully with a probe).
Superior Ovary, Single Carpel: Ovary sits above other flower parts and is usually composed of just one carpel.
Fruit Type: Typically a berry, sometimes a follicle or capsule.

Secondary Identification Features

Spines: Woody species (Berberis) often have spines (modified leaves or branches).
Leaf Form: Note if leaves are simple, pinnately compound (Berberis/Mahonia), ternately compound (Epimedium, Caulophyllum), or large and peltate/lobed (Podophyllum).
Flower Color: Often yellow, but can be white, pink, purple.
Petal Nectaries: Look for specialized nectary structures at the base of the petals.

Seasonal Identification Tips

Spring: Herbaceous members like Jeffersonia, Podophyllum, and Epimedium flower early. Shrubs also typically flower in spring.
Summer: Fruits begin to develop. Leaves are fully expanded.
Fall/Winter: Berries mature on shrubs and some herbs (Caulophyllum has striking blue berries). Foliage of deciduous species may show fall color. Evergreen shrubs remain identifiable. Yellow wood is always present.
(Current Time Context: Mid-spring in Oklahoma - Look for flowering herbs like Podophyllum if in suitable habitat, and flowering shrubs like Berberis).

Common Confusion Points

Rosaceae: Many shrubs have alternate leaves and berries/drupes (e.g., Cotoneaster), but flowers are usually 5-parted with numerous stamens, and lack yellow wood.
Ranunculaceae: Related family, often herbaceous with alternate/basal compound leaves and alkaloids. Flowers usually have numerous stamens and/or numerous distinct carpels, and fruit is often an achene or follicle. Lack yellow wood.
Grossulariaceae (Ribes - Currants/Gooseberries): Shrubs with alternate, often palmately lobed leaves and berries, but flowers have an inferior ovary and different structure.
Rutaceae (e.g., Zanthoxylum - Prickly Ash): Shrubs with alternate compound leaves and sometimes yellow wood/bark, but flowers/fruits are different (often 4-5 parted, fruit a follicle or capsule with aromatic seeds).

Check: Yellow wood (shrubs), flower parts in 3s, stamen number/behavior, single superior carpel, fruit type.

Field Guide Quick Reference

Look For:

Shrub or perennial herb
Yellow inner wood/bark (shrubs)
Alternate or basal leaves (simple or compound)
Flowers usually 3-merous (6 sepals, 6 petals, 6 stamens)
Stamens opening by valves, often sensitive
Superior ovary, usually 1 carpel
Fruit typically a berry

Key Variations:

Presence/absence of spines
Evergreen or deciduous
Leaf complexity (simple, pinnate, ternate)
Fruit type (berry, follicle, capsule)
Herbaceous vs. woody habit

Notable Examples

The Barberry family includes popular garden plants, important medicinal species, and distinctive wildflowers.

Berberis thunbergii

Japanese Barberry

A deciduous shrub native to Japan, widely cultivated for its compact habit and colorful foliage (many cultivars exist with red, purple, or yellow leaves). Has small simple leaves often clustered on short shoots, sharp spines at nodes, small yellow flowers, and bright red oblong berries. Can be invasive in North America.

Berberis aquifolium

Oregon Grape

Formerly Mahonia aquifolium. An evergreen shrub native to western North America. Features large, pinnately compound leaves with spiny-toothed leaflets resembling holly. Produces bright yellow flowers in dense racemes in spring, followed by clusters of edible, tart, blue-black berries covered in a whitish bloom. State flower of Oregon.

Podophyllum peltatum

Mayapple

A colonial perennial herb native to eastern North American woodlands. Sends up distinctive stems, each bearing one or two large, deeply lobed, umbrella-like leaves. Flowering stems typically have two leaves with a single, nodding white flower borne in the fork. Produces a large, yellow, fleshy berry (ripe fruit is edible, other parts toxic). Contains podophyllotoxin.

Epimedium grandiflorum

Large-flowered Barrenwort / Bishop's Hat

A rhizomatous perennial herb native to Asia, widely cultivated as a shade-tolerant groundcover. Has ternately compound leaves, often with heart-shaped leaflets that may have spiny margins. Produces delicate flowers in spring with prominent spurred inner sepals or petals, resembling a bishop's hat, in various colors (white, pink, yellow, purple). Fruit is a dry follicle.

Caulophyllum thalictroides

Blue Cohosh

A perennial herb native to eastern North American forests. Features large, 2-3 times ternately compound leaves (resembling meadow-rue, Thalictrum) and a terminal panicle of small, yellowish-green or purplish flowers in spring. Unique in that the ovary wall withers early, leaving the two developing seeds exposed, which mature into striking blue, berry-like seeds.

Jeffersonia diphylla

Twinleaf

An early-spring ephemeral herb native to eastern North American woodlands. Recognized by its distinctive basal leaf which is divided nearly to the base into two symmetrical, kidney-shaped halves, resembling butterfly wings. Bears a solitary white flower on a leafless stalk before or as the leaf fully expands. Fruit is a pear-shaped capsule opening by a lid.

Phylogeny and Classification

Berberidaceae is placed in the order Ranunculales, a group near the base of the Eudicot evolutionary tree (basal eudicots). This order is distinct from the large Asterid clade that includes families like Asteraceae, Apocynaceae, and Aquifoliaceae covered previously. Ranunculales is characterized by several shared features, including the common production of isoquinoline alkaloids.

Within Ranunculales, Berberidaceae is closely related to families like Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family), Papaveraceae (Poppy family, including Fumariaceae), Menispermaceae (Moonseed family), Lardizabalaceae, and others. The exact relationships among these families are complex, but Berberidaceae forms a well-supported clade. Modern molecular phylogenetics strongly supports the inclusion of the genus Mahonia within a broadly defined Berberis, making Berberis sensu lato the largest genus in the family.

Position in Plant Phylogeny

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms (Flowering plants)
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: (Basal Eudicot)
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Berberidaceae

Evolutionary Significance

Berberidaceae represents an early diverging lineage within the eudicots, retaining some features considered ancestral while exhibiting unique specializations. The common trimerous flower structure (parts in 3s) is shared with monocots and some other basal angiosperms but less common in core eudicots. The production of potent isoquinoline alkaloids like berberine is a key chemical feature shared within Ranunculales, likely playing a role in defense. Specialized features like valvate anther dehiscence and sensitive stamens represent interesting evolutionary adaptations for pollination. The family shows significant morphological diversity, ranging from spiny desert shrubs to delicate woodland herbs, demonstrating successful adaptation to various temperate environments.