Synonyms

Berberis jamesiana Forrest & W.W. Sm.: Berberis integerrima Bunge; Berberis jamesiana var. leucarpa (W.W. Sm.) Ahrendt; Berberis jamesiana var. leuocarpa (W.W. Sm.) Ahrendt; Berberis jamesiana var. sepium Ahrendt; Berberis leuocarpa W.W. Sm.; Berberis nummularia var. sinica C.K. Schneid.; Berberis oblonga Bunge.

Berberis vulgaris L.: Berberis baluchistanica Ahrendt.

Local Names

Russian: Бapбapиc цeльнoкpaйний (Barbaris tsel’nokrayniy); Uzbek: Kizil zirk; Kyrgyz: Бёpукapaгaт (Byoru karagat); English: Barbery (Fedorov 1984)

Botany and Ecology

Berberis jamesiana: Shrub, 4 m tall; strongly branching, spiny, with brownish or purple angular branches; on lower sterile branches, spines tripartite or with at least one lateral tooth on each side; on other branches spines simple, large; leaves coriaceous, obovate or oblong, not more than 4–5 cm long, 13–18 mm broad subapically, entire or subentire often with large, acute teeth on young shoots; leaves cuneately tapering into a petiole; inflorescence a long axillary raceme, 5 cm long or more, with 12–20 flowers; sepals and petals obovate; style very short, stigma large, retained at maturity when fruits usually pendulous; berries obovate or oblong, purple-red, with bloom, 7–8 mm long. Flowering May–June, fruiting June–August. Middle Asia, on the banks of rivers and stony slopes of mountains, among Juniperus thickets, up to 1000–3300 m (Shishkin and Bobrov 1937).

Berberis vulgaris: Deciduous shrubs up to 3 m tall. Stems long, with short branches bearing spines. Bark of second year stems smooth and gray in color. Bud scales fall off early. Leaves simple, usually obovate with one midvein and with short petioles, margins flat with shallow teeth tipped with small spines. Flowers in a raceme disposed from short shoots with 10–20 flowers each; anther filaments lack curved teeth. Berries are red to purple, round, juicy, and solid. Mainly under cultivation. Found throughout the Caucasus, Central Europe, Mediterranean, the Balkans, Russia, and Central Asia. Introduced to North America. Flowers and fruits from May to June. Berberis vulgaris is an important food for many small birds, which disperse the seeds in their droppings. The species is the alternate host species of the wheat rust fungus (Puccinia graminis), a grass-infecting rust fungus that is a serious fungal disease of wheat and related grains. Ural, Caucasus, on forest edges, in bush thickets, in mixed and deciduous forests, on stony slopes of mountains, from the lowland to the mid-mountain belt (Shishkin and Bobrov 1937).

Phytochemistry

Alkaloids (berberine, jatrorricin, palmatine, hydroxyacetine, magnoflorine, columbamine, isotetradrine, oblongine, methylberbamine, berberrubIn, oblongamine, berbamunine, hydroxyacanthine, talikmidine, isocoridine, glaucine, oxyacanthine, talimidine, isocoridine, isoboldine, reticuline), vitamins (C, carotene) (Fedorov 1984).

Local Medicinal Uses

In Tajikistan a root infusion is used to treat cardiovascular diseases, gastric diseases, neurasthenia, rheumatism, fevers, and a poultice is used for inflammatory processes of fractures and bruises. In northern Tajikistan, the roots are used to treat wounds, bone fractures, rheumatism, radiculitis, heart pain, and stomach aches. In Kazakhstan, the extract of young branches is used for headache. The fruit infusion acts as anticoagulant. In Uzbekistan, the leaves are used as cardiotonic and antipyretic. All over the region the fruits are used as antipyretic, to relieve thirst. A decoction of the leaves is used to treat kidney stones, tuberculosis, chest pains, and headaches. An infusion of the fruits is used to treat constipation and wounds (Fedorov 1984). Also used to treat high blood pressure and skin problems (Sher et al. 2016; Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5).

Fig. 1
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Berberis vulgaris (Berberidaceae), Tbilisi, Georgia. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y. Paniagua-Zambrana)

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Fig. 2
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Berberis vulgaris (Berberidaceae), Tbilisi, Georgia. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y. Paniagua-Zambrana)

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Fig. 3
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Berberis vulgaris (Berberidaceae), Tbilisi, Georgia. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y. Paniagua-Zambrana)

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Fig. 4
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Berberis vulgaris (Berberidaceae), Tbilisi, Georgia. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y. Paniagua-Zambrana)

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Fig. 5
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Berberis vulgaris (Berberidaceae), Tbilisi, Georgia. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y. Paniagua-Zambrana)

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Berberis lyceum is used to heal wounds (Ur-Rahman et al. 2018), conjunctivitis and diabetes (Singh et al. 2017), eye infections (Joshi et al. 2010), jaundice, fever, and urinary infections (Sher et al. 2016). Berberis asiatica serves for gastric problems, as anthelminthic, for diabetes and eye infections (Bhat et al. 2015; Joshi et al. 2010; Kumar et al. 2011; Kunwar and Bussmann 2009; Kunwar et al. 2009, 2013), and also as mild laxative, especially for children (Joshi et al. 2010; Figs. 6 and 7).

Fig. 6
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Berberis vulgaris (Berberidaceae), Cappadokia, Turkey. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y. Paniagua-Zambrana)

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Fig. 7
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Berberis vulgaris (Berberidaceae), Cappadokia, Turkey. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y. Paniagua-Zambrana)

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Local Food Uses

The fruits are eaten fresh and dried for use in sauces, for making jams and sweets, as well as spice (Batsatsashvili et al. 2017; Bussmann et al. 2014, 2016a, b, c, 2017, 2018; Bussmann 2017; Fedorov 1984; Fig. 8).

Fig. 8
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Berberis vulgaris (Berberidaceae), dried fruits for sale in market, Cappadokia, Turkey. (Photo R.W. Bussmann & N.Y. Paniagua-Zambrana)

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Local Handicraft and Other Uses

The bark yields yellow, golden, dark violet, dark blue, and olive dyes for wool and silk. (Batsatsashvili et al. 2017; Bussmann et al. 2014, 2016a, b, c, 2017, 2018; Bussmann 2017; Fedorov 1984).