Shrubs Of The Great Basin: A Natural History

Creeping Barberry

Creeping Barberry Berberis repens The leaves of the barberry are at times, especially in Europe, infested with a peculiar blight . . . It consists in its full~grown condition of little cups filled with a reddish or brownish powder (spores) . . . This blight caused much fear at one time in Europe, upon the supposition that it was com~ municated to grain, which however was very probably false. -Charles F. Millspaugh, AMERICAN MEDICINAL PLANTS UNFORTUNATELY, this opinion, expressed in 1892, turned out to be disas~ trously wrong-the barberry is indeed the alternate host for the wheat rust, just as the currant is the alternate host for the white pine blister rust. The Pacific Coast species, fortunately, are resistant to this pathogen. Millspaugh's erroneous conclusion is but one more instance of the need for students of nature to be tentative in all their conclusions, however tempting it is to be otherwise! Creeping barberry, or hollygrape as it is sometimes called, is the most common species ofbarberry in the West. It is to be expected at higher eleva~ tions in coniferous forests throughout the Great Basin. Like those of the other western species, the leaves are composed of leaflets distributed along a common axis, which really represents the midrib of the leaf. Botanists call this a pinnate condition, from the Latin pinna which means feather. The creeping barberry usually has about five leaflets making up each pinnate leaf, with each of these leaflets being 3 to 9 centimeters long and spine~toothed along the edge like a holly leaf. The leaves are evergreen and typically occur on short, upright stems only 10 to 30 centimeters tall. Each of these erect stems arises from an underground horizontal stem, or stolon, that gives rise BERBERIDACEAE to additional stems at intervals. The individual leaves are dull green above and pale green beneath. The yellow flowers are borne in a terminal group on the stem and, in common with those of other barberries, have a very regular pattern-consisting of series of whorls of three members each. There are various interpretations of the true nature of each of these whorls but no agreement. One interpretation is that the lowermost whorl is of three bracts, next come two whorls of three sepals often colored like petals, and next are two whorls of concave petals with two nectar glands at the base. To some, these really represent stamens which have evolved to look like petals and have lost the ability to produce pollen. This is not too farfetched; water lilies, for example , clearly show transitional petaloid stamens. Next, there are two whorls of three stamens each. These are initially pressed against the concave petals. They are sensitive to touch, and a bee attempting to get to the nectar glands will stimulate the stamens to spring toward the center of the flower, dusting its head and thorax with pollen. When the bee visits the next flower, the pollen is brushed off onto the receptive portion of the pistil. If cross-pollination does not occur, the anthers eventually contact the pistil and effect self-pollination. Frequently, however, self-pollination does not result in any fruit production. Finally, at the center of the flower is a single pistil, which eventually produces a waxy blue berry 3 to 6 millimeters long. These berries somewhat resemble the fruits of a grape, accounting for the common name of hollygrape. Somewhat erroneously, we sometimes tell beginning botany classes that the monocots, which include such families as the grasses, lilies, and orchids, have flowers based on a plan of three, while the dicots, which include all other flowering plants, have flowers based on a plan offive. The barberry is a dicot but, however, has the floral plan of a monocot. This does not mean that it is more closely related to the monocots, only that our generalization is false in many instances. Barberries typically have roots with a bright yellow color on the inside. This is due to the presence of a yellow compound called berberine. The Navajo used the roots for a yellow dye and the fruits to produce a lavender color. Great Basin tribes also used the yellow tea obtained by boiling the roots to thicken the blood and to cure dysentery. The tea was considered Creeping Barberry 30 BERBERIDACEAE efficacious for curing coughs, kidney problems, and venereal diseases. This and other species of barberry produce edible berries used variously in making preserves, drinks...