Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
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'Berberis calliantha' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
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 21⁄2 in. long, 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in. wide, pointed, cuneate at the base, margins spiny-toothed, dark glossy green above, waxy white beneath; stalk 1⁄10 to 1⁄5 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 5⁄8 in. long by 2⁄5 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.