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General: Fremont's Mahonia (Mahonia fremontii) is an upright shrub or subtree with green, holly-like spiny leaves (leaflets) and small yellow flowers set atop little stalks.
Fremont's Mahonia is a fairly common component of shrub communities on well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on upper bajadas and moderate slopes into the lower mountains in the Upper Sonoran (Mojave Desert Scrub and Pinyon-Juniper Woodland) life zone.
Family: Barberry (Berberidaceae).
Other Names: Barberry, Berberis |
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Plant Form: Upright shrub or subtree; deciduous.
Height: Usually 6-8 feet, to 15 feet.
Bark: Brown to gray.
Stems: Upright, branching, generally open.
Leaves: Pinnately compound with 3-7 leaflets. Leaf to 5 inches long; leaflets to 3 inches long; petiole 1/2 inch. Leaflets oblong; margin with spine-tipped lobes (holly-like).
Flowers: Blooms spring and early summer. Inflorescence: 2-inches long raceme with 8–12 flowers. Buds yellow, spherical. Flowers yellow, 5 yellow petals. |
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Seeds: Fruit: spherical, yellowish to purple, to about 1/2-inch diameter. Seeds small (about 1/10 inch).
Habitat: Dry, well-drained sandy, gravelly, and rocky soils on upper bajadas, rocky areas, and moderate slopes in the lower mountains.
Elevation: 3,000 to 6,000 feet.
Distribution: California to Colorado, and south into Mexico.
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