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Natural
History Tall Oregon-Grape (Berberis aquifolium) Richard Hebda INDEX for Native Plants This text was originally published in Coastal Grower (formerly The Island Grower) in Victoria, British Columbia. For subscription information, please call Susanne Steele at the Coastal Grower at 250-478-0825. British Columbia is home to a diverse collection of native shrubs. Few are as versatile and adaptable as the Oregon-grapes of which Tall Oregon-grape has the highest profile. Tall Oregon-grape forms handsome shrubby clumps of few to many upright greyish canes. Wild clumps normally grow half to one and a half metres (20-60") tall, but straggly individuals can reach 2.5 m (100"). The inside of the stems and roots is coloured brightly yellow. Shiny, compound evergreen leaves, with 5-9 leaflets crowd near toward the ends of stems. Spiny teeth line leaflet edges giving rise to the species name "aquifolium" which is a classical name for holly. In the summer leaves are lustrous green, but in the winter they often turn bronze or even red. Delicate new growth emerges reddish too. On the coast many-flowered clusters of bright yellow blossoms appear as early as late February and persist into April. Often several clusters throng the end of a stem resulting in a prominent display. In this plant the petals and sepals are both coloured so that each delicately scented flower has three whorls of three petal-like segments. Glands at the base of the segments produce clear drops of nectar. Inside a ring of seven yellowish stamens with peculiar projecting 'ears' surrounds a squat greenish pistil. Grape-like bunches of small blue berries replace the flowers in late spring and summer. These sour fruits contain large seeds. In British Columbia this shrub occurs from Prince George southward in the interior, and to the north end of Vancouver Island on the coast. The range extends south into Oregon and as far east as Idaho. The natural habitat includes open woodland, edges of meadows and, in the interior, sagebrush covered hills. Tall Oregon-grape was introduced to European gardens in the early 1800s. Generally it is a cooperative horticultural shrub especially for partly-shaded to open well-drained sites. Once planted it may need occasional pruning immediately after flowering to keep a neat form. Cold, drying winter winds kill exposed foliage. Try tall Oregon-grape in a shrub border, hedge, or naturalized thickets along with Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana) and snowberry (Symphoricarpos spp.). Landscapers use it widely around institutional buildings on south Vancouver Island. Tall Oregon-grape plants are easily obtained from garden centres and nurseries on the west coast. They can be grown from seed too. Sow ripe seed in the fall and transplant young seedlings the following fall into nursery beds. At the Native Plant Garden of the Royal British Columbia Museum tall Oregon-grape spreads widely by seed into adjacent herbaceous beds. First Peoples knew tall Oregon-grape well. They ate the fresh berries and, on south Vancouver Island, used them as an antidote to shellfish poisoning. Thompson Peoples boiled the outer bark of the roots to make a bright yellow dye for baskets. Liquid from the bark of boiled woody stems helped treat red itchy eyes. Tall Oregon-grape is a wonderful coastal landscape shrub. It's attractive all year round and produces edible berries -- which make an excellent wild jelly. Use lots of sugar for the taste is very tart, and get rid of all the seeds for they are large and somewhat bitter. The name Berberis (barberry in English) originates in a similar Arabic name for barberry fruit. You may know our Oregon-grapes by another Latin name, Mahonia, which honours an 18-19th century American horticulturalist Bernard M'Mahon. For more information contact Richard Hebda at the Royal British Columbia Museum.
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