Berberis verruculosa
Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- BER-ber-is ver-ruk-yoo-LO-sah
- Description
-
Warty barberry is an evergreen shrub in the barberry family (Berberidaceae) native to China. It gets its common name from the rounded raised spots on the stems.
This shrub grows 3 to 6 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide in a rounded arching form. It prefers partial shade to shade and tolerates any well-drained garden soil. It is drought-tolerant once established. Propagate by seed or stem cuttings. Spreads to form thickets. Birds will spread the seeds.
The solitary golden-yellow flowers are 1 inch across and appear in late spring to summer. They are followed by blue-black berries in the fall. The leaves are glossy green with glaucous undersides and spiny teeth. The stems have narrow three-parted spines. The plant has been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1929.
Warty Barberry can be used as a specimen, hedge, or barrier plant. It can also be used on slopes and banks to help with erosion.
Quick ID Hints:
- Stems covered in tiny wart-like excrescences
- Leaves on dwarf shoots, 3-parted spines at nodes
- Leaves green or reddish above, tomentose underneath
Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: Watch for berberis sawfly and powdery mildew. Deer resistant.
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- 'Apricot Queen'
Yellow-orange flowers, 10 feet tall - 'Aurea'
Yellow-green foliage - 'Compacta'
Dwarf variety 2 to 3 feet tall - 'Kobold'
Dwarf variety 2 feet tall - 'Silver Beauty'
Varigated leaves with whitish margins
- 'Apricot Queen'
- 'Apricot Queen', 'Aurea', 'Compacta', 'Kobold', 'Silver Beauty'
- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- 'Apricot Queen'
Yellow-orange flowers, 10 feet tall - 'Aurea'
Yellow-green foliage - 'Compacta'
Dwarf variety 2 to 3 feet tall - 'Kobold'
Dwarf variety 2 feet tall - 'Silver Beauty'
Varigated leaves with whitish margins
- 'Apricot Queen'
- 'Apricot Queen', 'Aurea', 'Compacta', 'Kobold', 'Silver Beauty'
- Tags:
-
-
Attributes:
- Genus:
- Berberis
- Species:
- verruculosa
- Family:
- Berberidaceae
- Recommended Propagation Strategy:
- Seed
- Stem Cutting
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- Native to China
- Particularly Resistant To (Insects/Diseases/Other Problems):
- Deer and rabbit resistant
- Dimensions:
- Height: 3 ft. 0 in. - 6 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 3 ft. 0 in. - 4 ft. 0 in.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Shrub
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Broadleaf Evergreen
- Habit/Form:
- Arching
- Dense
- Rounded
- Spreading
- Growth Rate:
- Slow
- Maintenance:
- Low
- Texture:
- Fine
- Appendage:
- Spines
-
-
Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- Soil pH:
- Acid (<6.0)
- Alkaline (>8.0)
- Neutral (6.0-8.0)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b
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Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Black
- Purple/Lavender
- Fruit Type:
- Berry
- Fruit Length:
- < 1 inch
- Fruit Description:
- This plant has 0.3-inch fruit that is violet-black with a bloom, ovoid berry.
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-
Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Orange
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Raceme
- Flower Size:
- < 1 inch
- Flower Description:
- This plant has golden-yellow flowers. 2-5, yellow, 1/2", borne on long pedicels. Inflorescence in subumbellate racemes.
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Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Broadleaf Evergreen
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- White
- Leaf Feel:
- Leathery
- Smooth
- Leaf Type:
- Simple
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Alternate
- Leaf Shape:
- Elliptical
- Lanceolate
- Ovate
- Leaf Margin:
- Serrate
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- 1-3 inches
- Leaf Description:
- This plant has alternate, simple, leathery, and dark green leaves that are 0.5-1.5 inches long. Leaves taper at both ends, and the margins are slightly spiny toothed. They may become purplish-green or mahogany in winter. Elliptic or ovate to ovate-lanceolate, margins remotely spiny-toothed and recurved, glabrous, dark green above, glaucous and tomentose underneath, clustered on dwarf shoots in spine axil.
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Stem:
- Stem Color:
- Brown/Copper
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Description:
- Rounded, light brown, covered with tiny, dark brown excrescences, imparting a rough texture to bark; spines are slender, 3-parted, less than 1" long.
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Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Coastal
- Landscape Theme:
- Cottage Garden
- Drought Tolerant Garden
- Winter Garden
- Design Feature:
- Barrier
- Border
- Hedge
- Security
- Specimen
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Deer
- Drought
- Urban Conditions
