Classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order Type: Basal Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Berberidaceae
Family Common Name: Barberry Family
Genera: Berberis, Caulophyllum, Jeffersonia, Podophyllum
Defining Features: May be
recognized by their often yellow-colored secondary tissue especially in
the roots. Some botanists place the genera Podophyllum and Jeffersonia
in a separate family, the Podophyllaceae.
Defining Morphology: Floral
Features: Flowers are actinomorphic and bisexual. Flowers are small and
borne on an inflorescence of cymes, panicles, racemes or spikes or as solitary
flowers. Ovaries are superior with basal or lateral placentation. Fruit
and Seed Features: Dicotyledon. Fruit a berry or follicle. Seeds have endosperm.
Vegetative Features: Habit as herbs, shrubs or small trees either deciduous
or evergreen. Leaves simple or pinnately compound and alternate (rarely
opposite) with spiny or toothed margins. Stipules are present.
Distribution: South American
Andes and northern hemisphere.
Economic Use: As cultivated
ornamental shrubs, medicinal products. Yellow dye and fruits of B.
vulgaris being used in many Asian dishes.
Number of Genera Globally: 15
Number of Species Globally:
650
