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Andalusian barberry (Berberis hispanica)

Diputación de Málaga
Arbusto Agracejo, arlo. Berberis hispanica

Andalusian barberry (Berberis hispanica)

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Plant Life > Trees, Bushes and Herbaceous Plants

IDENTIFICATION

The Andalusian barberry is a shrub (up to 2m high), deciduous, with thorny stems. One-year-old shoots tend to be yellowish and flowery, while older ones are greyish. The thorns are simple and yellowish brown coloured, although in some cases it can exhibit up to five branches, with the central thorn always the longest.  The leaves are simple, but they are grouped in fascicles (groups sharing the same base). They appear in the thorns’ armpit (lateral or yolk), have an elliptical or oval shape, the wedge-shaped base and the margin can be serrated or whole (smooth or toothless edge). The flowers are grouped in elongated bunches. They have six yellowish petals. The fruit is a bay (fleshy fruit with several seeds) with a rounded or elongated shape, of black or bluish colour. It generally has a whitish cerumen protecting cover called the bloom with two seeds inside.

WHERE DOES IT LIVE?

This species grows in pine forests, hedges, forests cleared of mainly limestone substrate (they are good indicators of basic soils). It is a continental species with an Atlantic influence, present from 600 to 2400 meters above the sea level. It is a characteristic of communities forming replacement edging of mountain ranges forest masses. It usually shares habitats with the hawthorns in holm oaks and gall oaks forests in the "piedemontes" (foot of the mountains) of the pine forests. It does not bear the shade and prefers moderate heat, although it can also live in places with great temperature changes between day and night. It prefers dry soils and well drained soils, with high descaling clay quantities from limestone.

HOW DOES IT LIVE?

The barberry has hermaphrodite flowers (it is a monoic species, both sexes in the same specimen), grouped in hanging inflorescences in the thorns’ armpits. It flourishes from May to July. Each inflorescence groups from 3 to 25 flowers. The pollination stage is aided by insects (entomophil). Stamens are very sensitive to mechanical stimulation caused by some insects. When this occurs, they open and release their pollen upon them. The fruit changes from a black green colour to a bluish one when it matures. It is comestible and tasty, very appreciated by the fauna, which disperse it thanks to excrements. 

WHERE CAN WE SEE IT IN MÁLAGA?

This species appears in a very dispersed way among the Malaga province, always on clay soils of carbonated origin. There are populations in the Sierra de las Nieves, in Sierra de Camarolos and in the Malaga Northestern part.  On the Great Path, it can be detected on stages 10 to 11 and 22 to 26.

CURIOUS FACTS

The latin name of this species Berberis alludes to the flower's shape and to the way it meets insects during the pollination. When the insect stimulates the flower's stamens, the flower closes itself like a cockle, a bivalve mollusk that closes its leaflets like the way that the barberry flower's petals curve themselves.  Since old times barburry's medicinal properties have been used. The fruits are laxative and contain much C vitamin: an alkaloid (berberine) used to overcome morphine addiction is obtained from the leaves. It must be used in small quantities since it is toxic.

SIMILAR SPECIES

It is an unmistakable species. The thorns are grouped five by five, with a longer central one; and flowers or fruit groups standing out from the armpits of these thorns are typical of this species.

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