Berberidaceae
Shrubs or subshrubs, often spiny. Lvs alternate, simple or compound, exstipulate or stipules minute. Fls ⚥, nearly always 3-merous, solitary or in fascicles, racemes or panicles. Perianth of similar sepals and petals in 2-several whorls, free, 3 per whorl, yellow to orange, caducous. Stamens 6, antipetalous; anthers 2-locular, dehiscing by apically-hinged valves. Ovary superior; carpel 1; ovules few. Fr. a 1-few-seeded berry.
4 genera, 500-600 spp., mostly N. temperate and temperate S. America.
The family as described here excludes some of the herbaceous genera often assigned to it. Most of these are placed in a separate family, Podophyllaceae, by Hutchinson, J., The Families of Flowering Plants ed. 3 (1973). However, certain almost herbaceous genera, are retained in Berberidaceae, particularly the commonly cultivated Epimedium, because they have many characters in common, especially of the fls, which closely resemble those of some Berberis spp.
