Berberis darwinii

Darwin’s barberry is in the barberry or Berberidaceae family and is native to southern Chile and Argentina and it has naturalized elsewhere.

• It is an evergreen thorny shrub growing to 3–4 m tall, with dense branches from ground level.
• Leaves are small, oval, 12–25 mm long and 5–12 mm broad, with a spiny margin; they are borne in clusters of 2–5 together, subtended by a three-branched spine 2–4 mm long.
• Flowers are orange, 4–5 mm long, produced in dense racemes 2–7 cm long in spring.
• Fruit is a small purple-black berry 4–7 mm diameter, ripening in summer.