Species: Mahonia aquifolium
Piper's Oregon-grape
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Anthophyta
Class
Dicotyledoneae
Order
Ranunculales
Family
Berberidaceae
Genus
Mahonia
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Hollyleaf Barberry - hollyleaved barberry
Informal Taxonomy
Plants, Vascular - Flowering Plants - Barberry Family
Formal Taxonomy
Plantae - Anthophyta - Dicotyledoneae - Ranunculales - Berberidaceae - Mahonia - Classified in the genus Mahonia by Kartesz (1994) and many other sources; also sometimes treated in the genus Berberis as B. aquifolium. LEM 20Aug01.
Ecology and Life History
Short General Description
Evergreen shrub with bright yellow flowers and blue berries in clusters. Stems are erect with stiff, glossy leaves. The bark and wood has a yellow tint. (Pojar and MacKinnon 1994).
Ecology Comments
Berries and leaves are browsed by ungulates and rodents (Tilford 1998).
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
2001-01-25
Global Status Last Changed
1991-05-07
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=SNR&CA.BC=S5&CA.ON=SE&CA.QC=SE&US.CA=SNR&US.DC=SE&US.ID=SNR&US.KY=SNR&US.LA=SE&US.MI=SE&US.MT=SNR&US.NJ=SE&US.NY=SE&US.OR=SNR&US.WA=SNR" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
Mahonia aquifolium has two divergent ranges in North America; Alberta south through California and northern Mexico and Ontario south through Kentucky. It is native in Alberta south through California, but an escaped landscaping plant in the eastern portion of the U.S. and Canadian range.