Berberis actinacantha Seeds | Chilean Barberry
LATIN NAME: Berberis actinacantha
COMMON NAME: Chilean Barberry
Plant Profile
Berberis actinacantha is an evergreen shrub from the dry slopes of central Chile, grown for its spines as much as for its flowers. The leaves are small, leathery and dark green, carried in clusters at the nodes, and at the base of each cluster sit three-pronged spines that are modified leaves rather than thorns. The habit is dense and rounded, to about two metres, and it makes an impenetrable hedge.
Flowers are small and yellow, in drooping clusters in spring, and they are followed by blue-black berries with a bloom on the skin. The species is one of many South American barberries, and it is harder and more drought-tolerant than the European Berberis vulgaris, which is why it is used in dry gardens and in coastal plantings.
Science & Biotechnology
The genus is defined by berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid that gives the roots and stems a bright yellow colour and a bitter taste. Berberine is antimicrobial and is used in Chinese and in Western herbal medicine for intestinal complaints, and it is the reason barberry bark was a dye plant as well as a medicine. The concentration is highest in the root and in the inner bark.
The genus also carries a second reputation. Berberis vulgaris is the alternate host of wheat stem rust, Puccinia graminis, and in North America and in parts of Europe barberry eradication was a government programme for most of the twentieth century. The fungus needs both hosts to complete its sexual cycle, so removing the shrub near wheat breaks the chain. Not every barberry is equally susceptible, and the South American species are less often implicated.
Uses & Benefits
The berries are edible and very acid, and they are used in Chile and in Argentina for jam and for a sour drink, usually with plenty of sugar. In Europe the same fruit is dried and used in Persian and in Georgian cooking, where it is called zereshk and scattered over rice.
The root and bark yield a yellow dye that was used for wool and for leather, and the alkaloid is the source of berberine used in supplements. The plant is grown mainly as a hedge and as a drought-tolerant ornamental, and the spines make it useful where livestock or dogs need to be kept out.
Growing from Seed
Seed needs cold and should be cleaned of pulp before sowing. Sow in autumn in a pot left outdoors, or stratify at 4 degrees for three months; germination is often in the second spring. Cuttings taken in late summer with a heel of old wood root slowly but reliably.
The shrub wants full sun and sharp drainage, and it tolerates drought, wind and poor, stony soil. It is hardy to about minus fifteen, though the leaves may burn in an exposed cold site. Prune after flowering if a hedge is wanted, since the flowers are carried on short spurs and a hard cut removes the next year’s fruit.
Our Take
A spiny, drought-proof shrub with acid fruit and a yellow dye in its roots. Plant it where the spines are an asset, not beside a path.
Related Reading
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