{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Speciesbox | image = Mahonia aquifolium.jpg | genus = Berberis | species = aquifolium | authority = Pursh |synonyms_ref = <ref name="POWO" /> |synonyms = {{Species list | Berberis brevipes | Greene | Berberis pinnata | Banks ex DC. | Mahonia aquifolium | (Pursh) Nutt. | Mahonia brevipes | (Greene) Rehder | Mahonia diversifolia | Sweet | Mahonia latifolia | Dippel | Mahonia moseri | Ahrendt | Mahonia moseriana | Moser | Mahonia murrayana | Dippel | Mahonia undulata | Ahrendt | Odostemon aquifolius | (Pursh) Rydb. | Odostemon brevipes | (Greene) A.Heller | Odostemon nutkanus | (DC.) Rydb. }} }}
'''''Berberis aquifolium''''', the '''Oregon grape'''<ref name="tktimb">{{Cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VLbAAwAAQBAJ |title=Trees & Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest |last2=Kuhlmann |first2=Ellen |date=2014 |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=978-1-60469-263-1 |edition=1st |location=Portland, Oregon |pages=377–378}}</ref> '''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 {{convert|3|m|ft|0}} tall and {{convert|1.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} 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.
==Description== ''Berberis aquifolium'' grows to {{convert|1–3|m|ft|abbr=off|frac=2}} tall<ref>{{cite web |title=Landscape Plants: Mahonia aquifolium |url=https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/mahonia-aquifolium |access-date=4 July 2020 |website=Oregon State University: College of Agricultural Sciences - Department of Horticulture |publisher=Oregon State University |ref=OSUCASDH}}</ref> and {{convert|1.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} wide. The stems and twigs have a thickened, corky appearance. The leaves are pinnate and up to {{convert|30|cm|0|abbr=off}} long, comprising 5–9 ovate, spiny leaflets up to {{Convert|7.5|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long.<ref name="auduflo">{{Cite book |last=Spellenberg |first=Richard |url=https://archive.org/details/nationalaudubons00spel/page/410/ |title=National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region |publisher=Knopf |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-375-40233-3 |edition=rev |pages=410–11 |orig-date=1979}}</ref> Shiny on top, the leathery leaves resemble those of holly.<ref name="auduflo" />
From March to June, the yellow flowers are borne in dense clusters {{Convert|3–6|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long and {{Convert|1.5|cm|abbr=on|frac=8}} wide.<ref name="auduflo" /><ref name="Jepson" /> Each of the six stamens terminates in two spreading branches. The six yellow petals are enclosed by six yellow sepals. At the base of the flower are three greenish-yellow bracts, less than half as long as the sepals. The spherical berries are up to {{Convert|1|cm|abbr=on|frac=8}} wide,<ref name="tktimb" /> dark dusty-blue, and tart in taste.<ref name="Jepson">{{cite web |author=Williams |first=Michael P. |date=2012 |title=Berberis aquifolium, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) |url=http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=15587 |access-date=2013-08-08 |website=Jepson eFlora}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Oregon Grape, Holly Leaved Barberry, Oregon Holly, Mahonia aquifolium |url=https://www.wildfooduk.com/edible-wild-plants/oregon-grape/ |access-date=2022-07-01 |website=Wild Food UK |language=en-GB}}</ref>
{{gallery|mode=packed |02 Berberis aquifolium.jpg|Flowers |Mahonia aquifolium fruit 2.jpg|Fruit clusters |Bessen van een Mahonia aquifolium. 17-08-2025. (actm.) 01.jpg|Close-up of fruits }}
===Chemistry=== ''Berberis aquifolium'' contains 5'-methoxyhydnocarpin (5'-MHC), a multidrug resistance pump inhibitor, which works to decrease bacterial resistance ''in vitro''.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Stermitz FR, Lorenz P, Tawara JN, Zenewicz LA, Lewis K |date=February 2000 |title=Synergy in a medicinal plant: antimicrobial action of berberine potentiated by 5'-methoxyhydnocarpin, a multidrug pump inhibitor |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=97 |issue=4 |pages=1433–7 |bibcode=2000PNAS...97.1433S |doi=10.1073/pnas.030540597 |pmc=26451 |pmid=10677479 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
=== Similar species === ''Berberis nervosa'' (Cascade Oregon grape) is similar but has 7–23 leaflets.<ref name="auduflo" />
==Taxonomy== Some botanists continue to place part of the barberry genus ''Berberis'' in a separate genus, ''Mahonia''.<ref name="FNA Berberis">{{cite web |last1=Whittemore |first1=Alan T. |title=''Berberis'' in Flora of North America |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=103816 |website=efloras |access-date=6 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529105936/http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=103816 |archive-date=29 May 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Loconte, H., & J. R. Estes. 1989. Phylogenetic systematics of Berberidaceae and Ranunculales (Magnoliidae). Systematic Botany 14:565-579.</ref><ref>Marroquín, Jorge S., & Joseph E. Laferrière. 1997. Transfer of specific and infraspecific taxa from ''Mahonia'' to ''Berberis''. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 30(1):53-55.</ref><ref>Laferrière, Joseph E. 1997. Transfer of specific and infraspecific taxa from ''Mahonia'' to ''Berberis''. Bot. Zhurn. 82(9):96-99.</ref> Under this classification ''Berberis aquifolium'' is named ''Mahonia aquifolium''.<ref>{{cite POWO |id=1148915-2 |title=''Mahonia aquifolium'' (Pursh) Nutt. |access-date=6 November 2023}}</ref> As of 2023 Plants of the World Online classifies it as ''Berberis aquifolium'' with no valid subspecies.<ref name="POWO">{{cite POWO |id=31334-2 |title=''Berberis aquifolium'' Pursh |access-date=6 November 2023}}</ref>
''Berberis dictyota'' is considered a variety.<ref name="tktimb" />
===Etymology=== The Latin specific epithet ''aquifolium'' denotes "sharp-leafed" (as in ''Ilex aquifolium'', the common holly), referring to the spiny foliage.<ref name="RHSLG">{{cite book |last=Harrison |first=Lorraine |title=RHS Latin for gardeners |publisher=Mitchell Beazley |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-84533-731-5 |location=United Kingdom |page=224}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=April 2022|reason=If the epithet were an adjective it would surely be Mahonia aquifolia: a feminine adjective for a genus in feminine form. Is aquifolium not in fact a noun, named after holly, for which the Latin word is itself aquifolium? In other words "holly mahonia" not "sharp-leaved mahonia".}}
''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.<ref name="MBG Plant Finder">{{cite web |last1=MBG |title=''Berberis aquifolium'' |url=https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c291 |website=Plant Finder |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |access-date=6 November 2023}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== ''Berberis aquifolium'' is a native plant in the North American West from Southeast Alaska to Northern California to central New Mexico, often occurring in the understory of Douglas-fir forests (although other forest types contain the species) and in brushlands in the Cascades, Rockies, and northern Sierra Nevada.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}
==Ecology== thumb|Flowers visited by a bumblebee
As with some other ''Berberis'', ''B. aquifolium'' can serve as an alternate host for wheat yellow rust (''Puccinia striiformis'' f. sp. ''tritici'', which usually prefers wheat), but it is unknown whether this occurs naturally.<ref name="Wang-Chen-2013" />
Wildlife consume the berries.<ref name="auduflo" />
==Cultivation== ''Berberis aquifolium'' is a popular subject in shady or woodland plantings. It is valued for its striking foliage and flowers, which often appear before those of other shrubs. It is resistant to summer drought, tolerates poor soils, and does not create excessive leaf litter. Its berries attract birds.<ref name="RHSAZ">{{cite book |title=RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4053-3296-5 |location=United Kingdom |page=1136}}</ref>
Numerous cultivars and hybrids have been developed, of which the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf | title = AGM Plants - Ornamental | date = July 2017 | page = 62 | publisher = Royal Horticultural Society | access-date = 25 March 2018}}</ref> * ''M.'' × ''wagneri'' 'Pinnacle'<ref>{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Mahonia × wagneri'' 'Pinnacle'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/71336/Mahonia-x-wagneri-Pinnacle/Details|access-date=13 April 2015}}</ref> (''B. aquifolium'' × ''Berberis pinnata'') * 'Apollo'<ref>{{cite web|title=RHS Plant Selector - ''Mahonia aquifolium'' 'Apollo'|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=1232|access-date=13 April 2015}}</ref>
==Uses== The small purplish-black fruits, which are quite tart and contain large seeds, are edible raw<ref>{{Cite book|last=Benoliel|first=Doug|title=Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest|publisher=Skipstone|year=2011|isbn=978-1-59485-366-1|edition=Rev. and updated|location=Seattle, WA|pages=119|oclc=668195076}}</ref> after the season's first frosts.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lyons |first=C. P. |author-link=C. P. Lyons |title=Trees, Shrubs and Flowers to Know in Washington |date=1956 |publisher=J. M. Dent & Sons |location=Canada |page=196 |edition=1st}}</ref> They were included in small quantities in the traditional diets of Pacific Northwest tribes, mixed with salal or another sweeter fruit. Today, they are sometimes used to make jelly, alone or mixed with salal.<ref name="auduflo" /><ref>{{cite book |title=Plants of Coastal British Columbia: including Washington, Oregon & Alaska, rev. ed. |editor1-last=Pojar |editor1-first=Jim |editor2-last=MacKinnon |editor2-first=Andy |year=1994 |publisher=Lone Pine Publishing |location=Vancouver |isbn=978-1-55105-532-9 |page=95 }}</ref> Oregon-grape juice can be fermented to make wine, similar to European barberry wine folk traditions, although it requires an unusually high amount of sugar.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Neighbourhood Forager |last=Henderson |first=Robert K. |year=2000 |publisher=Key Porter Books |location=Toronto, Ontario |isbn=1-55263-306-3 |page=111 }}</ref>
The inner bark of the larger stems and roots of Oregon grape yield a yellow dye.<ref name="auduflo" /> The berries contain a dye that can be purple,<ref>{{cite book |last=Bliss |first=Anne |year=1993 |title=North American Dye Plants, rev. and enl. ed. |publisher=Interweave Press |location=Loveland, Colorado |isbn=0-934026-89-0 |page=130}}</ref> blue, pink, or green depending on the pH of water used to make the dye, due to the berries containing a naturally occurring pH indicator.{{or|date=August 2022}}
===Medicinal uses=== Some indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau use Oregon grape for indigestion.<ref name="hunn">{{cite book |last= Hunn |first= Eugene S. |title=Nch'i-Wana, "The Big River": Mid-Columbia Indians and Their Land |publisher=University of Washington Press |year= 1990 |isbn= 0-295-97119-3| page=352}}</ref>
The plant contains berberine and reportedly has antimicrobial properties similar to those of goldenseal.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Codekas |first=Colleen |date=2020-07-16 |title=Foraging for Oregon Grape |url=https://www.growforagecookferment.com/foraging-for-oregon-grape/ |access-date=2022-07-29 |website=Grow Forage Cook Ferment |language=en}}</ref>
==In culture== In 1899, Oregon-grape was recognized as the state flower of Oregon.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/facts/almanac/d-h.aspx |title=State Symbols: Dance to Hops - Flower, State |year=2021 |work=Oregon Blue Book |publisher=Oregon Secretary of State |access-date=10 May 2021}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="Wang-Chen-2013">{{cite journal | last1=Wang | first1=M. N. | last2=Chen | first2=X. M. | title=First Report of Oregon Grape (''Mahonia aquifolium'') as an Alternate Host for the Wheat Stripe Rust Pathogen (''Puccinia striiformis'' f. sp. ''tritici'') Under Artificial Inoculation | journal=Plant Disease | publisher=American Phytopathological Society | volume=97 | issue=6 | year=2013 | issn=0191-2917 | pmid=30722629 | doi=10.1094/pdis-09-12-0864-pdn | pages=839 | s2cid=73433566| doi-access=free | bibcode=2013PlDis..97..839W }}</ref>
}}
==External links== * The Oregon Grape in "Our State Flowers: The Floral Emblems Chosen by the Commonwealths", ''The National Geographic Magazine'', XXXI (June 1917), pp. 481–517. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20200514130858/http://bioimages.vanderbilt.edu/ind-baskauf/42661.htm ''Mahonia aquifolium'' images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu] *[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=15587 Jepson eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Berberis aquifolium''] *[http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Berberis+aquifolium Calflora Database: ''Berberis aquifolium'' (Oregon grape, mountain grape)] *[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=233500223 Flora of North America @ efloras.org: ''Berberis aquifolium''] — syn; formerly: ''Mahonia aquifolium'' *[http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/img_query?where-taxon=Berberis+aquifolium&where-anno=1 UC Photos gallery: ''Berberis aquifolium''] *[http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/gramou33.html Mountain Grape] from Botanical.com
{{US state flowers}} {{Taxonbar|from2=Q158303|from1=Q126902242}}
aquifolium Category:Flora of Western Canada Category:Flora of the Western United States Category:Flora of Alaska Category:Flora of California Category:Symbols of Oregon Category:Plants used in Native American cuisine Category:Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Category:Bird food plants Category:Butterfly food plants Category:Garden plants of North America Category:Drought-tolerant plants Category:Flora without expected TNC conservation status