Berberis thunbergii seed
LATIN NAME: Berberis thunbergii
COMMON NAME: Japanese Barberry, Thunberg’s Barberry, Red Barberry
The Japanese barberry is one of the most widely planted garden shrubs in the world, and it earns its place with colour and toughness. It grows as a small, dense, deciduous shrub, usually about a metre tall, with a mound of small, oval leaves on arching, spiny branches. In spring the foliage is bright green, in autumn it turns brilliant shades of red, orange and purple, and in late spring the shrub is dotted with small, pale yellow flowers, followed by glossy, bright red berries that last into winter. It is a shrub of all-season interest, tough, easy and vividly coloured, and it has been a garden favourite for more than a century.
The Japanese barberry belongs to the barberry family, Berberidaceae, and it is native to Japan and eastern Asia. It has been widely planted around the world, and in parts of North America it has become a problematic invasive, crowding out native plants and changing the forest floor.
Positive & Encouraging Seed Germination Guide
Growing a Japanese barberry from seed is easy and gives dependable results. The seeds sit inside the glossy, red berries, and they germinate best after a period of cold, moist conditions, so clean the seed and sow it in pots of free-draining compost in autumn, then leave them outdoors through winter, or chill them in the fridge for two to three months first. Germination usually begins in spring. Pot the seedlings on as they grow and plant them out in full sun or light shade, in almost any soil. The young shrubs are tough, hardy and undemanding, and in time they will reward you with their vivid autumn colour and red berries.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The Japanese barberry has a rich and divided record in research. In North America, it is one of the most studied invasive shrubs in the world, and researchers have examined its spread, its impacts on native plants and even on soil and wildlife, and the links between dense barberry thickets and increased tick habitat, making it a major case study in invasion ecology. At the same time, the shrub has been studied in horticulture for its value as an ornamental, its many cultivars and its autumn colour, and the genus Berberis has been studied in phytochemistry, since the barberries contain valuable alkaloids, including berberine, which has been studied for its biological activity. For a shrub that is both a beloved garden plant and a serious invasive, the Japanese barberry has a fascinating record of research.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Ecologically, the Japanese barberry is a divided story. In its native Asia it is a useful shrub whose flowers feed bees and whose red berries feed birds, while in North America, where it has been introduced, it can crowd out native plants, so it must be managed with care.
Its economic value lies mainly in ornamental horticulture. It is one of the most widely planted garden shrubs in the world, valued for its vivid foliage, its autumn colour, its spiny, dense habit and its toughness, and it is used in hedges, borders and foundation plantings, while the genus is also valued in traditional medicine for berberine. For a grower, the Japanese barberry is an easy and colourful shrub, and for a gardener it brings reliable colour through every season.
Different appeal and enjoys the attention of gardeners decorative form of barberry Atropurpurea, which appears in the description of elegant foliage-dark purple, Burgundy, scarlet-red. In my group is the tall shrub in the adult species reaching 1.5–1.8 m. the Skeletal branches of his erect, side shoots numerous, slender, drooping. They give the crown a spherical shape. The variety grows slowly (20-30 cm per year), while rising up and spreading wide. Seeds require cold stratification 90-120 days.
Berberis darwinii, Darwin’s Barberry, Orange flowered Hardy Ornamental Shrub from Southern Argentina and Chile, first described by Charles Darwin on his voyage on the Beagle in 1835 and named in his honour.
It is a great medium sized evergreen shrub with small prickly holly like leaves. Ideal for a spot at the back of the border or as part of an evergreen hedge or topiary. They do well in well drained but moist sites in full sun, but is quite tolerant of other soil types, sites and moisture. It grows to around 8′ (2.4m) high and 10′ (3m) across, producing flowering spikes with clusters of bright orange flowers, from Spring through to Autumn which are followed by purple – blue berries. Long flowering period, great for pollinators and berries are devoured by birds. If you beat them to it, they make excellent preserves: Jam, Jelly etc.
Berberis thunbergii ‘Atropurpurea’, Purple Japanese Barberry, Yellow flowered, Purple leaved Hardy Ornamental shrub from Japan and eastern Asia. Great purple foliage and contrasting yellow flowers!
Berberis thunbergii fma. atropurpurea like the other species is an excellent medium sized deciduous shrub but can also be trimmed into low hedges and topiary. It does well in well drained but moist sites in full sun or semi-shade, but is quite tolerant of other soil types, sites and moisture. It is a vigorous, bushy deciduous shrub growing to around 1m tall and up to 2.5m wide. It has rounded, deep reddish-purple leaves which become deep red in autumn. Small red-tinged pale yellow flowers occur in spring and are followed by glossy red berries in autumn.