''Mahonia japonica'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Berberidaceae,

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

.Flora of China v 19 p 781, ''Mahonia japonica''
/ref> Despite the name, it is not native to Japan, though it has been known in cultivation there for centuries. The wild origins of this species have long puzzled botanists, but wild plants in Taiwan, known under the name ''Mahonia tikushiensis'', appear most similar to the cultivated forms of ''M. japonica''.

Description

It is an

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...

shrub growing to tall by wide. The foliage is

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...

, glossy dark green above, paler beneath, and sharply toothed. Each leaf usually has six to eight pairs of leaflets together with a single terminal leaflet. The plant produces new shoots regularly from the base, so it is clothed in foliage at all levels. The small, scented, yellow flowers are borne from autumn through winter into spring. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

s are 25 cm or more long, at first arching and then pendant. Blue or black fruits develop in spring and summer.

Cultivation

The plant is much grown as an ornamental shrub, and for use in landscapes. It is of value for its bold foliage, flowers in flowering season, and as a groundcover landscape shrub. Its spiny foliage, like that of the closely related ''

Berberis ''Berberis'' (), commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from tall, found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world (apart from Australia). Species diversity is greatest in South Amer ...

'', invite use in security hedging. ''Mahonia japonica'' has received the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

's Award of Garden Merit. The

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

between it and ''Mahonia oiwakensis'' subsp. ''lomariifolia'' is also a popular garden plant. Known as ''Mahonia'' × ''media'', several

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

s have been developed from it, including 'Charity', 'Winter Sun' and 'Lionel Fortescue'. A hybrid with '' Mahonia duclouxiana'' (''M. siamensis''), called ''Mahonia'' × ''lindsayae'' 'Cantab', though less well known, is a useful garden plant and also holds an Award of Garden Merit. '' Mahonia bealei,'' native to

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

Flora of China v 19 p 778, ''Mahonia bealei''
/ref> and also widely cultivated, is usually treated as a separate species, but in the past has been listed as a cultivar of ''Mahonia japonica''. Its most obvious differences from ''M. japonica'' are in shorter, upright flowering racemes and wider leaflets.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q159322 japonica Flora of Taiwan Flora of China Garden plants Plants described in 1784