Berberis wilsoniae Hemsl.
Deciduous shrub to c. 2 m high, glabrous except for slightly hairy young shoots. Mature shoots angular, brown in second year. Spines 3-partite, the main axis 1-1.5 cm long, the lateral spines shorter. Lvs sessile, to 3 × 0.8 cm, often much less, oblanceolate, entire on adult shoots, subcoriaceous, pale glaucescent below, reticulate; margin revolute; base attenuate; apex mucronulate. Infl. sub-racemose or nearly fasciculate, dense, 10-20-flowered. Bracts ovate, much < pedicels. Bracteoles on pedicels similar but smaller. Perianth segments yellow, the largest 3-3.5 mm long; innermost whorl (petals) slightly shorter. Nectaries ± oblong, prominent. Stamens 1.7-2 mm long. Ovules 3. Stigma sessile or nearly so. Berry 5-9 mm diam., globose or subglobose, red, not pruinose.
N.: one collection only, Te Karaka area, Poverty Bay; S.: 2 sites only, Culverden (N. Canterbury), Macandrew Bay (Dunedin).
S.W. China, upper Burma 1983
Crevices in cliffs, mixed scrub.
FL Dec-Feb.
B. wilsonae is cultivated in colder parts of N.Z. for its attractive autumn lvs and fr. As with other barberries, naturalisation is probably the result of bird dispersal of frs from garden plants. Several vars are described for B. wilsonae and from them several hybrids have been raised in cultivation. It is not clear to which part of this variable sp. the naturalised N.Z. collections belong.
