Berberis sieboldii

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

Edible Parts: Fruit Edible Uses: Fruit - raw or cooked.

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It suits hardiness zones 5-9. Hobart Botanical Gardens.

Asia, Australia, Japan, Tasmania,

How to Identify

A shrub which loses its leaves. It grows 1 m high. It is a neat rounded bush. The branches are glossy and red-brown. The leaves are 25-75 mm long have have a some bristles. They are red when young and become bright green. The flowers are bright yellow and in racemes. The fruit are dark red, glossy berries.

How to Grow

Prefers a warm moist loamy soil but it is by no means fastidious, succeeding in thin, dry and shallow soils. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Prefers a lime-free soil. Prefers a dry sunny position. A very ornamental plant, it is closely related to B. vulgaris. This species is probably an alternate host of 'black-stem rust' of wheat and is best not cultivated in cereal growing areas. Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus. Plants produce suckers freely, forming thickets. They can be pruned back quite severely and will resprout well from the base.

Propagation: Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame, when it should germinate in late winter or early spring. Seed from over-ripe fruit will take longer to germinate, whilst stored seed may require cold stratification and should be sown in a cold frame as early in the year as possible. The seedlings are subject to damping off, so should be kept well ventilated. When the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick them out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame. If growth is sufficient, it can be possible to plant them out into their permanent positions in the autumn, but generally it is best to leave them in the cold frame for the winter and plant them out in late spring or early summer of the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame. Cuttings of mature wood of the current season's growth, preferably with a heel, October/November in a frame. Suckers, removed in late autumn/early winter and planted out in situ or potted up and planted out in late spring.

Medicinal Uses

Antibacterial Cancer Dysentery Berberine, universally present in rhizomes of Berberis species, has marked antibacterial effects. Since it is not appreciably absorbed by the body, it is used orally in the treatment of various enteric infections, especially bacterial dysentery. It should not be used with Glycyrrhiza species (Liquorice) because this nullifies the effects of the berberine. Berberine has also shown antitumour activity.

Other Uses

Dye A yellow dye is obtained from the root. Special Uses

A deciduous shrub growing to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) tall. Hardy to UK zone 5. Flowers appear in May; hermaphroditic blooms are insect-pollinated and self-fertile. Tolerates light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils, including poor soils. Grows in mildly acidic, neutral, or mildly alkaline soils. Adapts to semi-shade or full sun with dry to moist soil preferences.

Notes

There are about 450-500 Berberis species.

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