Berberis fortunei Lindley, J. Roy. Hort. Soc. 1: 231. 1846; B. fortunei var. szechuanica (Ahrendt) Laferrière; Mahonia fortunei var. szechuanica Ahrendt.

Shrubs, 0.5-2(-4) m tall. Leaves abaxially pale yellowish green, occasionally slightly glaucous, adaxially dull to deep green, obovate to obovate-elliptic, 10-28 × 8-18 cm; leaflets 2-5 pairs, lowest pair similar to others, 2-9 cm above base of petiole, abaxial veins branched, raised, adaxial veins indistinct; rachis 1-2 mm in diam.; internodes 1.5-4 cm, slightly decreasing in length apically; leaflets sessile or subsessile, narrowly lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, 4.5-14 × 0.9-2.5 cm, base cuneate, margin with 5-10 spinose teeth on each side, apex acute. Inflorescence 4-10-fascicled racemes, 3-7 cm; bracts of inflorescence lanceolate to triangular-ovate, 5-20 × 3-5 mm. Pedicel 2-2.5 mm; floral bracts ovate, 1.5-2.5 × 1-1.2 mm, apically acute. Sepals yellow; outer sepals ovate to triangular-ovate, 1.5-3 × ca. 1.5 mm; median sepals oblong-elliptic, 3.8-5 × 2-3 mm; inner sepals oblong-elliptic, 4-5.5 × 2.1-2.5 mm. Petals yellow, oblong, 3.5-4 × 1.5-2 mm, base with distinct glands, apex emarginate, lobes acute. Stamens 2-2.5 mm; anther connective not prolonged, truncate. Ovary 1.1-2 mm; ovules 2; style absent. Berry purplish blue, pruinose, globose, 4-6 mm in diam. Fl. Jun-Sep, fr. Sep-Nov. 2n = 28*.

This species is widely cultivated in China and also cultivated in Indonesia, Japan, and the United States.

Dippel (Handb. Laubholzk. 3: 109. 1893) included the name "Mahonia fortunei Hort." in synonymy but within the treatment of this plant as Berberis, not Mahonia.

● Forests, scrub thickets, roadsides, along streams, margins of cultivated fields; 300-2000 m. Chongqing, NE Guangxi, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Zhejiang.