Red Barberry - Berberis haematocarpa
South of Hillsboro, New Mexico
May 3, 2014
Growing at the base of an Arizona Ash, we found Berberis haematocarpa (Red Barberry), south of Hillsboro in early May. Other English Common Names include Algerita and Red Oregon-Grape. Its scientific synonyms include Berberis nevinii var. haematocarpa, Alloberberis haematocarpa, Mahonia haematocarpa and Odostemon haematocarpus.
BONAP lists this species as Mahonia haematocarpa and provides the range map to the right. The light green color indicates that the species is native to and not rare within the county indicated. The range of this species extends south into Sonora - Chihuahua?.
The flowers have 6 petals, 6 sepals, and 6 stamens. They turn into a red berry. The Red Barberry is a small tree (large bush) with many branches.
This species was first described by Elmer Ottis Wooton in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 25(6): 304–306. 1898. The specimen shown below was collected as part of the Mexican Boundary Survey (Emory) and identified at that time as Berberis trifoliata.
Trail 135, Black Range, New Mexico
April 18, 2020
Photographs immediately above and below
