A modern reference to temperate woody plants, including updated content from this site and much new material, can be found at Trees and Shrubs Online.

Berberis sublevis W. W. Sm.

Modern name

Berberis sublevis W.W.Sm.

An evergreen shrub of sturdy habit from 5 to 7 ft high; shoots ribbed, glabrous, armed with three-pronged spines up to 114 in. long. Leaves varying from solitary to fascicles of six, 112 to 3 in. long, 14 to 12 in. wide, oblong-lanceolate, the base cuneate, the apex acute, spine-tipped, margins spiny, green beneath, glabrous. Flowers in close clusters of up to twelve, each on a slender stalk 12 to 1 in. long, fragrant, pale orange-yellow according to Forrest, 12 in. wide. Fruits small, deep red, 14 in. or less long, narrowly oval.

Native of Yunnan, China, discovered by Forrest in 1912. It belongs to the Wallichianae section and has the characteristic dark green, more or less oblong leaves of that group. It was shown at Vincent Square on 9th March 1937 as “B. wallichiana microcarpa”, carrying primrose-yellow flowers.


Genus

Berberis

Other species in the genus