Spanish barberry
Berberis hispanica
Family · Berberidaceae · Irritating
The spiny mountain shrub with clusters of yellow flowers and elongated, very sour red berries. The spines come in threes like a trident, which is confused with nothing else.
Uplands · Scrubland
Also known asbarberry
How to tell it
Spines branched into three or five points, at the base of each leaf tuft. Small spoon-shaped leaves with a spiny margin, in bunches along the branch. Intensely yellow wood beneath the bark, which confirms the genus at once. Hanging clusters of yellow flowers, elongated red berries. Range: mainly a Spanish plant, practically absent from Portugal.
What it is confused with
Gooseberry
Ribes uva-crispa
Gooseberry has simple spines and round translucent veined berries; barberry has trident spines, yellow wood and elongated opaque berries. Both were traditionally eaten.
What it is for
The berries were traditionally used in jams and syrups in the mountains, very sour and rich in vitamin C. Root and bark contain berberine and have traditional medicinal use, but in high dose they are toxic and are not used in pregnancy. Traditional use, in the past.
Traditionally used as food. This is not permission to eat it.
With documented traditional uses. Not a therapeutic indication and not a dose.