Mahonia nervosa

Mahonia nervosa, commonly known as dwarf Oregon-grape, Cascade barberry, Cascade Oregon-grape, or dull Oregon-grape, is a flowering plant native to the northwest coast of North America from southern British Columbia south to central California, with an isolated population inland in northern Idaho.[4][5][6] It is especially common in second growth, Douglas-fir[7] or western redcedar forests, making use of those pools of sunlight that intermittently reach the ground.

Dull Oregon-grape
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Berberidaceae
Genus: Mahonia
Species:
M. nervosa
Binomial name
Mahonia nervosa
Synonyms[1]
  • Berberis nervosa Pursh
  • Berberis nervosa var. mendocinensis Roof [2]
  • Mahonia nervosa var. mendocinensis (Roof) Roof[3]

Some authors place the entire genus Mahonia within the genus Berberis.[8][9][10]

The plant was collected by Lewis and Clark during their famous expedition to the West before being described for science in 1813.[11][12]

Description
Lower surface of leaf, palmately nerved with 3 to 8 veins

It is an evergreen shrub with short vertical stems, mostly under 30 cm (12 in), while the leaves reach higher, rarely up to 2 m (6 ft 7 in) tall. The leaves are compound, with 9–19 leaflets; each leaflet is strongly toothed, reminiscent of holly, and somewhat shiny, but less so than tall Oregon-grape. The leaflets do not have a single central vein as in that species, but several veins arranged fan-like, branched from the leaflet base, hence the epithet nervosa. The flowers and fruit are like those of other Oregon-grapes, and are equally sour-tasting.

Uses

Some Plateau Indian tribes drank an infusion of the root to treat rheumatism.[13] The Yana people dried and ground the fruits to make a mush. They can also be dried and eaten like raisins.[14]

References
  1. Tropicos
  2. Roof, James B. Four Seasons 3(1): 8–10, f. s.n. [p. 9, upper right]. 1969.
  3. Roof, James B. Changing Seasons 1(3, Suppl.): 14. 1981.
  4. Hickman, J. C. 1993. The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California 1–1400. University of California Press, Berkeley.
  5. Munz, P. A. & D. D. Keck. 1959. California Flora 1–1681. University of California Press, Berkeley.
  6. Hitchcock, C. H., A.J. Cronquist, F. M. Ownbey & J. W. Thompson. 1984. Salicaceae to Saxifragaceae. Part II: 1–597. In C. L. Hitchcock et al. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press, Seattle.
  7. Pojar, Jim; MacKinnon, Andy, eds. (1994). Plants of Coastal British Columbia: including Washington, Oregon & Alaska, rev. ed. Vancouver: Lone Pine Publishing. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-55105-532-9.
  8. Loconte, H., & J. R. Estes. 1989. Phylogenetic systematics of Berberidaceae and Ranunculales (Magnoliidae). Systematic Botany 14:565–579.
  9. Marroquín, Jorge S., & Joseph E. Laferrière. 1997. Transfer of specific and infraspecific taxa from Mahonia to Berberis. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 30(1):53–55.
  10. Laferrière, Joseph E. 1997. Transfer of specific and infraspecific taxa from Mahonia to Berberis. Bot. Zhurn. 82(9):96–99.
  11. Fl. Amer. Sept. (Pursh) 219. 1814 [Dec. 1813]. Collectors: M.Lewis, W.Clark s.n. "Plant Name Details for Berberis nervosa". IPNI. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
  12. "Mahonia nervosa". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved November 27, 2009.
  13. Hunn, Eugene S. (1990). Nch'i-Wana, "The Big River": Mid-Columbia Indians and Their Land. University of Washington Press. p. 352. ISBN 0-295-97119-3.
  14. Nyerges, Christopher (2017). Foraging Washington: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods. Guilford, CT: Falcon Guides. ISBN 978-1-4930-2534-3. OCLC 965922681.
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