Berberis haematocarpa

Red fruited mahonia

Family: Berberidaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Red fruited mahonia is a California native shrub found in the eastern Mojave Desert on rocky slopes, pinyon and juniper woodlands, and chaparral at elevations of 1,000 to 1,850 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces yellow flowers in open clusters 2 to 3.5 centimeters long. Growing 0.5 to 4 meters tall with erect stems, it forms dense clusters on short lateral branches. Its compound leaves have 3 to 5 narrow-lanceolate leaflets with wavy margins and sharp spines 2 to 3 millimeters long along the edges, each leaflet 3 to 3.5 centimeters long and 0.8 to 1.2 centimeters wide. The fruit is a distinctive red-brown to dark purple spherical berry approximately 8 to 10 millimeters in diameter.

Habitat: Rocky slopes, pinyon/juniper woodland, chaparral

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 1000-1850 m

Bioregions: e&amps DMoj

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