Barberry is the name of hundreds of species (kinds) of low, usually spiny shrubs with yellow wood. The two species best known in the United States are the common barberry and the Japanese barberry. Both have red leaves and bright red fruit in autumn. The common barberry grows wild in the Eastern United States. People also use the common barberry in landscape gardening. The spring stage of black stem rust attacks this barberry. This fungus disease also causes great damage to wheat. For this reason the common barberry should never be planted in wheat-growing regions, as the disease may spread from the barberry bushes into the wheat fields. The spines of the barberry always grow in groups of three, and its berries appear in clusters.
The Japanese barberry is a popular garden plant which is not attacked by rust. It can easily be distinguished from the common barberry. The Japanese species grows more compactly. It bears its red berries either singly or in pairs, and it has spines that grow singly rather than in clusters. The berries of the Japanese barberry remain on the plant throughout the winter. The stems contain a yellow dye. The wintergreen barberry is a hardy evergreen.
