川鄂小檗 chuan e xiao bo

Shrubs, deciduous, 2-3 m tall. Branches grayish yellow or dark brown; shoots reddish, subterete, inconspicuously angulate; spines simple or 3-fid, concolorous, 1-3 cm, sometimes absent. Petiole 4-15 mm; leaf blade abaxially gray-green, adaxially dark green, elliptic or obovate-elliptic, 1.5-3(-6) × 0.8-1.8(-3) cm, papery, both surfaces glabrous, abaxially often slightly pruinose, midvein raised, lateral and reticulate veins conspicuous, adaxially with slightly impressed midvein, lateral and reticulate veins slightly conspicuous, base cuneate, margin inconspicuously 10-20-spinulose-serrulate on each side, apex rounded, obtuse. Inflorescence a raceme, 10-20-flowered, 2-6 cm including peduncle 1-2 cm; bracts 1-1.5 mm. Pedicels 5-10 mm, glabrous; bractlets lanceolate, 1-1.5 mm, apex acuminate. Sepals in 2 whorls; outer sepals oblong-obovate, 2.5-3.5 × 1.5-2 mm; inner sepals obovate, 5-6 × 4-5 mm. Petals oblong-obovate, 5-6 × 4-5 mm, base with separate glands, apex incised. Stamens 3.5-4.5 mm; anther connective not prolonged, truncate. Ovules 2. Berry red, ellipsoid, ca. 9 × 6 mm, not pruinose; style persistent, short. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Sep.

● Thickets, forests, forest margins, weedy places; 1000-2500 m. Gansu, Guizhou, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Sichuan.