Berberis aquifolium var. dictyota

Jepson's oregon grape

Family: Berberidaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Jepson's oregon grape is a California native shrub found in northwestern, central, and southern California regions, including the Sutter Buttes, Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges in slopes, canyons, conifer forests, oak woodlands, and chaparral at elevations of 90 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces blue-purple fruits with small white to yellow flowers arranged in clusters. Growing as an erect shrub less than one meter tall with a compact structure, it features distinctive leathery leaves with 7 to 9 leaflets. Its leaves are approximately 9 to 15 centimeters long, with thick, wavy margins and 6 to 10 sharp spines along each leaflet edge, giving the plant a robust and textured appearance. The blue-purple fruits and spiny, rounded leaflets make this oregon grape a striking component of California's diverse native plant communities.

Habitat: Slopes, canyons, conifer forest, oak woodland, chaparral

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 90-2200 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, CW, SN, ScV (Sutter Buttes), SCoR, TR, PR.

California counties: Kern, Tulare, San Bernardino, Ventura, Los Angeles, Butte, Tehama, Yuba, Siskiyou, Santa Clara, Calaveras, Madera, San Diego, Lake, Contra Costa, San Benito, Napa, Sutter, Riverside, Mariposa, Colusa, Tuolumne, Solano, Santa Barbara, Amador, Monterey, Alameda, Shasta, Fresno, Trinity, San Luis Obispo, Nevada, Stanislaus, Yolo, El Dorado, Orange, Santa Cruz

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.