Description

Coast barberry grows along the coast, coastal and interior mountains from Baja to Oregon. It is a rare find, usually occurring as lone specimens in shady settings. One also has a hard time distinguishing it from Oregon grape, Berberis aquifolium, which shares its range while extending well beyond it. Coast barberry grows as an upright, open shrub, with the frond-like compound leaves found in all members of the genus. While also called shiny leaf barberry, the leaves are not notably shiny once they mature. They’re more a matte dark green, at least in the subspecies that grows on the mainland. The Channel Island subspecies has shinier leaves. Like other barberries, the spring flowers are yellow. The berries ripen in summer to deep purple with a waxy coating.