Plants Belonging To Berberidaceae

The barberry family are evergreen dicot plants with holly-like leaves and flower parts in multiples of three. The inner bark is a brilliant yellow and contains the medicinally important berberine. Berberine acts as a potent bitter stimulant and antisecptic/antibacterial in plant medicine. The mayapple and a few other small families are sometimes included here but the bulk of the species are in the berberis genus. These plants produce edible but very sour berries. ^{Elpel, Thomas J.}