Berberis gyalaica var. maximiflora Ahrendt; B. gyalaica var. minuata Ahrendt; B. taylorii Ahrendt.

Shrubs, deciduous, 1.2-3 m tall. Branches deep gray or purplish brown, puberulous, ultimately glabrous; spines simple, occasionally 3-fid, pale yellow, 6-12 mm. Leaves subsessile or very shortly petiolate; leaf blade abaxially grayish green, adaxially dark green, obovate-elliptic, 1.2-3.2 × 0.7-1.7 cm, papery, abaxially with obviously raised midvein and lateral veins, adaxially with raised midvein, lateral veins much branched, both surfaces with conspicuous reticulate veins, base cuneate, margin entire, occasionally 2-4-spinose-serrate on each side, apex acute or rounded. Inflorescence a panicle, 10-45-flowered, 4-11 cm including peduncle 1-3 cm, rachises and peduncles puberulous; bracts 1.5-4 mm, usually longer than pedicels. Pedicels 1.5-3 mm, glabrous; bractlets ovate, 3-3.2 × ca. 2 mm, apex acuminate. Sepals in 2 whorls; outer sepals ovate, ca. 3.5 × 3 mm, apex acute; inner sepals obovate, ca. 5.5 × 4 mm. Petals obovate, ca. 4.6 × 3.5 mm, base clawed, with separate glands, apex incised, rounded, lobes obtuse. Stamens ca. 3 mm; anther connective not prolonged, truncate. Ovules (1-)3 or 4(or 5). Berry purplish black, oblong-ovoid, 9-10 × 4-5 mm, slightly pruinose, style not persistent. Fl. Jun-Jul, fr. Oct.

● Thickets, forest understories, roadsides; 2000-3200 m. Xizang.