Berberis nevinii
Berberis nevinii | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Ranunculales |
Family: | Berberidaceae |
Genus: | Mahonia |
Species: | M. nevinii
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Binomial name | |
Mahonia nevinii (Gray) Fedde
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Synonyms | |
Berberis nevinii (Gray) |
Mahonia nevinii (syn. Berberis nevinii), known by the common name Nevin's barberry, is a species of flowering shrub in the barberry family.
This plant is endemic to southern California, where it is known from very few occurrences in the riparian areas of chaparral in inland canyons and foothills. It is a California state and United States federally listed endangered species, since 1987[1] and 1998[2][3], respectively. There are thought to be about 500 individuals remaining, with half of those being naturally occurring plants.[4] It is also widely cultivated in gardens and parks as an ornamental and barrier plant[5][6].
Description
Mahonia nevinii is an erect shrub approaching a maximum height of 4 metres (13 ft). It has a dense foliage of dark green to bluish-green spiny-toothed, spear-shaped leaflets. It flowers in racemes of 3 to 5 bright yellow cup-shaped, layered blossoms. The fruit is a spherical reddish berry appearing in bunches, in the summer. The plant was first described by American botanist Asa Gray, in 1895 in honor of fellow botanist, Reverend Joseph Cook Nevin (1835-1912), who was active in China, Southern California, with the Channel Islands in particular.[7][8] Gray's original description for the plant was the following:
Berbericidae, Berberis.
B. Nevinii, Gray, n. sp. Leaflets 3 to 7, oblong-lanceolate, rather evenly and numerously spinulose-serrulate, half to full inch long, obscurely reticulated; lowest pair toward base of petiole: raceme loosely 5-7-flowered, equalling [sic] or surpassing the leaves • pedicels slender. — S. California, near Los Angeles, Nevin. Shrub 7 or 8 feet high, on a sandy plain. Berries juicy, ovoid, black or blue with a copious white bloom, called by Californian Mexicans Leña Amarilla [yellow firewood], and northward Oregon Grape: leaflets ovate to oblong, usually 2 or 3 inches long: racemes commonly fascicled at summit of stem or in axils, subsessile, dense and numerously flowered; pedicels rather short. [9]
Following a reclassification in 1961, some botanists treat Berberis nevinii (see Berberis) as Mahonia nevinii (see Mahonia).[10][11][12][13][14]
Distribution
Populations were historically found in washes of the San Fernando Valley.[15] There are about 21 known populations of the plant remaining, and almost all of them have fewer than 20 individuals, with some with as few as 5 individual plants.[16][7] The populations are scattered throughout the San Gabriel Mountains and the Peninsular Ranges in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties, its distribution possibly extending just into San Diego County.[16]
Threats to the species include habitat loss and degradation from urban development, fire suppression, and exotic plant species.[16]
Cultivation
Mahonia nevinii is cultivated as a drought-tolerant ornamental plant by specialty plant nurseries.[15] It is planted as a shrub in native plant and wildlife gardens, natural landscaping of parks in its range, drought tolerant landscaping, and for habitat restoration projects.[15]
It can serve as an impenetrable barrier hedge, due to the spiny-toothed dense foliage. With berries appearing in the summer, earlier/later than other chaparral plants, it is an attractive bird food plant.[15] The plant was introduced into cultivation in California by Theodore Payne.[15]
See also
References
- ^ https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=109390&inlineState of California, Natural Resources Agency, Department of Fish and Wildlife, Biogeographic Data Branch, California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB) (2018). State and Federally Listed Endangered, Threatened, and rare plants of California.
- ^ U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1998). Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered or Threatened Status for Three Plants from the Chaparral and Scrub of Southwestern California, Federal Register, vol. 63, no. 197, pp. 54956-54971.
- ^ "ITIS Standard Report Page: Berberis nevinii". www.itis.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
- ^ Heineman, Katherine. "Plant Profile • Center for Plant Conservation". Center for Plant Conservation. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
- ^ Wilson, Bert (Apr 12, 2013). "Mahonia nevinii, Nevin's Barberry". Las Pilitas Nursery. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
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(help) - ^ "Oak Woodland Plant List" (PDF). Descanso Gardens. Retrieved Feb 1, 2019.
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(help) - ^ a b "Berberis nevinii, Nevin Barberry, Shrub, [Mahonia nevinii, Odostemon nevinii]". Plant Information. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
- ^ Quattrocchi, Umberto (2006-04-26). CRC World Dictionary of Grasses: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology - 3 Volume Set. CRC Press. ISBN 9781420003222.
- ^ Gray, Asa (1895–1897). Synoptical flora of North America. Vol. v.1 pt.1 (1895-1897). New York,: American Book Company,.
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: CS1 maint: date format (link) CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Berberis amplectens in Flora of North America @ efloras.org". www.efloras.org. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
- ^ Loconte, H., & J. R. Estes. 1989. Phylogenetic systematics of Berberidaceae and Ranunculales (Magnoliidae). Systematic Botany 14:565-579.
- ^ Marroquín, Jorge S., & Joseph E. Laferrière. 1997. Transfer of specific and infraspecific taxa from Mahonia to Berberis. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 30(1):53-55.
- ^ Laferrière, Joseph E. 1997. Transfer of specific and infraspecific taxa from Mahonia to Berberis. Bot. Zhurn. 82(9):96-99.
- ^ "CNPS Inventory Plant Detail". www.rareplants.cnps.org. Retrieved 2019-02-02.
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ignored (help) - ^ a b c d e California Natives Wiki: Berberis nevinii — Theodore Payne Foundation . accessed 7.8.2012.
- ^ a b c The Nature Conservancy
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ESA endangered species
- NatureServe critically imperiled species
- Mahonia
- Endemic flora of California
- Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
- Natural history of Los Angeles County, California
- Natural history of the Transverse Ranges
- San Fernando Valley
- Environment of Los Angeles
- NatureServe imperiled species
- Garden plants of North America
- Bird food plants
- Drought-tolerant plants
- Shrubs