Berberis calliantha Mulligan

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Berberis calliantha' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/berberis/berberis-calliantha/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Infraspecifics

Other taxa in genus

Glossary

Tibet
Traditional English name for the formerly independent state known to its people as Bod now the Tibet (Xizang) Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. The name Xizang is used in lists of Chinese provinces.
bloom
Bluish or greyish waxy substance on leaves or fruits.
cuneate
Wedge-shaped.
section
(sect.) Subdivision of a genus.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Berberis calliantha' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/berberis/berberis-calliantha/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

An evergreen shrub of dwarf, compact growth, up to 3 ft high; shoots angled, armed with triple spines. Leaves elliptic or inclined to oval, 1 to 212 in. long, 12 to 34 in. wide, pointed, cuneate at the base, margins spiny-toothed, dark glossy green above, waxy white beneath; stalk 110 to 15 in. long. Flowers borne either solitary, in pairs, or in threes on short shoots bearing a terminal cluster of leaves, each up to 1 in. across, pale to creamy yellow. Fruits egg-shaped to nearly oblong, up to about 58 in. long by 25 in. wide, blue-black but covered with a grey-white bloom.

Native of S.E. Tibet, discovered and introduced by Kingdon Ward in 1924. It belongs to the Wallichiana section of the genus which is commonly represented in gardens by B. hookeri. It flowers in May and is well marked by its large flowers and dwarf habit (Kingdon Ward found it ‘growing in masses 1 ft high’). It was given an Award of Merit at Vincent Square, 19th May 1942.


B × bristolensis Ahrendt

A hybrid of B. calliantha, the other parent being in all probability B. verruculosa, which it resembles in having warty stems and solitary flowers. In leaf it is nearer to the first-named parent.