Carnegiea gigantea, Giant Saguaro

Southwest Desert Flora

Home to the plants of the Sonoran, Chihuahuan and Mojave Deserts

Cirsium ochrocentrum, Yellowspine Thistle

Berberidaceae, Barberry Family

The Berberidaceae or Barberry Family is a small family that includes trees, shrub and perennial herbaceaus members. In North America plants are evergreen or deciduous. Stems are without protective spines, simple leaves may be alternate, opposite or fascicled. Flowers are showy or inconspicuous, solitary or paired and without or without flowering stems.

In North America, according to the USDA Plants Database, there are 11 genera with 35 accepted taxa overall in the Berberidaceae family. World-wide, The Plant List identifies 19 plant genera with 755 accepted species names in the family.

The largest genus in North America is Berberis with 14 species. World-wide there are 580 accepted species names for Berberis.

References: 04/06/2014, updated format 08/30/2017
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service on-line database – ITIS search
https://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=display&classid=Berberidaceae
The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 08/30/2017).
http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Berberidaceae/
Wikipedia contributors, 'Berberidaceae', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 18 October 2014, 19:04 UTC,
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Berberidaceae&oldid=630140730 [accessed 6 April 2015]
R. David Whetstone, T. A. Atkinson and Daniel D. Spaulding, FNA | Family List | FNA Vol. 3 |, FNA Vol. 3, Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 16+ vols. New York and Oxford.