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''Berberis napaulensis'' ne, जमाने मान्द्रो is a shrub in the family Berberidaceae described as a species in 1821. It is native to
/ref>Flora of China, vol 19, 2011.
/ref> This species is used medicinally throughout the Sikkim Eastern Himalayas.
''Berberis napaulensis'' is a shrub or small tree that can be 1–7 meters tall. Leaves are up to 61 centimeters long, with 5-12 pairs of leaflets plus a larger terminal leaflet, all shiny above, yellowish-green below. Flowers are yellow, borne in a large
As of 2023 there are two recognized subspecies the former ''Mahonia pycnophylla'' and the autonym. There are
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
(Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
, Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
, Guangxi
Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...
, and Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
) and the Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
(Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
, Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
, Sikkim
Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...
, Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
).Flora of China Vol. 19 Page 779 尼泊尔十大功劳 ni bo er shi da gong lao ''Mahonia napaulensis'' Candolle/ref>Flora of China, vol 19, 2011.
/ref> This species is used medicinally throughout the Sikkim Eastern Himalayas.
Description
''Berberis napaulensis'' is a shrub or small tree that can be 1–7 meters tall. Leaves are up to 61 centimeters long, with 5-12 pairs of leaflets plus a larger terminal leaflet, all shiny above, yellowish-green below. Flowers are yellow, borne in a large panicle
A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...
. Berries are spherical, deep purple, 5–7 millimeters in diameter.
Taxonomy
''Berberis napaulensis'' was initially scientifically described and named by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle as ''Mahonia napaulensis'' in 1821. As part of a long running debate between botanists on if ''Mahonia
''Mahonia'' is a genus of approximately 70 species of evergreen shrubs and, rarely, small trees in the family Berberidaceae, native to eastern Asia, the Himalaya, North and Central America. They are closely related to the genus ''Berberis'' and ...
'' should be a synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
of '' Berberis'', Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel classified it as ''Berberis napaulensis'' in 1825. A paper was published by Joseph Edward Laferrière in 1997 summarized the arguments in favor of ''Berberis'' as the correct classification. As of 2023 this is the most common classification by botanists.
Subspecies
As of 2023 there are two recognized subspecies the former ''Mahonia pycnophylla'' and the autonym. There are botanical synonym
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
* In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linn ...
s listed by Plants of the World Online
Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...
for each of the subspecies recognized there, a very large number in the case of ''Berberis napaulensis'' var. ''napaulensis''.
''Berberis napaulensis'' var. ''napaulensis''
''Berberis napaulensis'' var. ''pycnophylla'' (Fedde) Laferr.
Ecology
InChiang Mai Province
Chiang Mai ( th, เชียงใหม่, ; nod, , ) is the largest Province (''changwat'') of Thailand. It lies in upper northern Thailand and has a population of 1.78 million people. It is bordered by Chiang Rai to the northeast, Lam ...
, Thailand, a species of rust fungus ''Pucciniosira cornuta'' (synonym of '' Gambleola cornuta'' ) infects ''Berberis nepalensis''.
Traditional uses
In the Nilgiris, it is of religious and medicinal importance to the nativeToda people
Toda people are a Dravidian ethnic group who live in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu. Before the 18th century and British colonisation, the Toda coexisted locally with other ethnic communities, including the Kota, Badaga and Kurumba, in a ...
of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
, who call it "Thovari" in '' their language.'' They use a paste made of the bark as a Traditional medicine
Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...
remedy for women immediately after childbirth. The Toda also use a water extracted from the leaves to purify their temples after women have entered them, as women are forbidden from Toda temples.
References
napaulensis Flora of Asia Shrubs Plants described in 1821 {{Ranunculales-stub