变绿小檗 bian lü xiao bo

Berberis spraguei Ahrendt var. pedunculata Ahrendt.

Shrubs, deciduous, 1-1.5 m tall. Branches dark purplish red or dark gray, terete, scarcely verruculose; shoots pale red, angulate; spines simple or 3-fid, 7-17 mm. Leaves subsessile; leaf blade abaxially pale yellow-green, adaxially dark green, oblong-obovate, 1.5-2.7 cm × 6-10 mm, papery, midvein flat, lateral veins 2 or 3 pairs, abaxially not pruinose, midvein inconspicuous, base cuneate, margin entire, apex obtuse or mucronate. Inflorescence a subumbel or umbellate raceme, 4-6-flowered, 1.5-2.7 cm including peduncle 6-8 mm, sometimes with 1 or 2 fascicled flowers at base. Pedicels 6-11 mm; bractlets oblong-lanceolate, ca. 4 × 2 mm. Flowers pale yellowish green. Sepals in 2 whorls; outer sepals obovate, ca. 6 × 4 mm; inner sepals broadly obovate, ca. 6 × 5 mm. Petals obovate, ca. 5 × 3 mm, base clawed, with separate glands, apex entire. Stamens ca. 3.5 mm; anther connective prolonged, conical-apiculate. Ovules 4 or 5. Berry red, ovoid, 8-10 × 3.5-4.5 mm, not pruinose; style persistent, short. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Sep.

Thickets on slopes; 3600-4100 m. Xizang, Yunnan [Bhutan, India (Sikkim), Nepal].