Berberis aquifolium var. repens

Creeping oregon grape

Family: Berberidaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Creeping oregon grape is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Peninsular Ranges, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert in slopes, canyons, conifer forest, oak woodland, and chaparral at elevations of 150 to 2,600 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces blue fruits that contrast against glossy, dark green compound leaves with spiny-edged leaflets. Growing with spreading to erect stems generally less than 0.8 meters tall, it forms dense, low-growing clumps in woodland understories. Its leaves are compound with 5 to 7 rounded leaflets, each 3 to 7 centimeters long and 2.5 to 4.5 centimeters wide, with sharp spines along the leaf edges. The blue to dark blue fruits are obovoid to elliptic, adding visual interest to this adaptable and widespread native shrub.

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

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 150-2600 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoR, CaR, SN, PR, GB, DMoj

California counties: Humboldt, Shasta, Placer, Modoc, Butte, Nevada, Del Norte, Glenn, Tulare, El Dorado, Alpine, Lake, Siskiyou, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Colusa, Trinity, Mariposa, Amador, Tehama, Mendocino, Sierra, San Diego, Inyo, Plumas, Mono, Los Angeles, Napa

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