Berberis harrisoniana

Kofa mountain barberry, Kofa Mountain Barberry

Family: Berberidaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Kofa mountain barberry is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native shrub found in the eastern Sonoran Desert's Whipple Mountains on rocky or talus slopes at elevations of 750 to 850 meters. Flowering from January to March, this plant produces yellow flowers in small open clusters with 6 to 11 blossoms. Growing 0.5 to 1.5 meters tall with erect stems, it develops short lateral branches with crowded leaves. Its distinctive leaves are palmately arranged with three leathery leaflets, each 3 to 5 centimeters long, featuring sharp-pointed triangular blades with spine-tipped teeth along the margins. The fruit is a blue-black spherical to ovoid berry approximately 5 to 6 millimeters in diameter.

Habitat: Rocky or talus slopes, thorn scrub

Bloom period: Jan-Mar

Elevation: 750-850 m

Bioregions: e DSon (Whipple Mtns)

California counties: San Bernardino

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