Plant Study
Dull Oregon Grape
Family Name: Barberry
Latin Family Name: Berberidaceae
Latin Name (Genus species):Mahonia nervosa Nuttall, Berberis nervosa Pursh, Berberis glumacea (Spreng.)
Common Names: Synonyms: low Oregon holly-grape, dull Oregon-grape, Mountain Oregon Grape,
Related Species:Mahonia aquifolium (Tall Oregon Grape)
(1)(3)(7)(8)
Body System Affiliations:
- Gastro-Intestinal System
- Respiratory System
- Blood Tonic
- Laxative
(8)
Botanical Description:
Habit: Evergreen Shrub
Size: to 60 cm tall
Arrangement: alternate
Leaves: Evergreen, clustered, long, bipinnate (twice pinnate), stiff, slender, with eleven to twenty-one leaflets which are broad to long-ovate, glossy green above and paler green below; thick, waxy cuticles and spined teeth along their margins; lateral leaflets are opposite and sessile (without a stalk of any kind), while the terminal leaflet has a petiole (stalk); leaflets lack a distinct midrib (main or central rib of a leaf); seven prominent veins arising from the base, turning reddish or purplish in winter. New young spring leaves are edible.
Flowers: Bright yellow, flower parts in 6s; many flowered erect clusters to 20cm long. Blooms March through May (sometimes June). Monoecious [flowers unisexual (with either stamens or pistils but not both) but the staminate (bearing stamens only) and pistillate (pistils only) ones borne on the same plant], perfect, small bright yellow flowers are borne in long, upright racemes [An inflorescence with pedicelled (the stalk of a single flower] flowers borne along a more of less elongated axis (central support structure or rachis) with the younger flowers nearest the apex), edible (you can eat them).
Fruit: Blue berries about 1cm across with few large seeds and a whitish bloom, in elongated clusters, edible, though not very sweet.
Bark: Reddish brown scaly and rough, inner bark is yellow.
Twigs: Unbranched; compound leaves emerge directly from main stem. Main stem is stout and brown; leaves are clustered at the terminal end. Lanceolate (lance shaped) bud scales persist for several years.
Underground Parts: Roots are yellow,rhizomes.
(1,3,7,8,)
Ecology:
Habitat: Dry to fairly moist, open to closed forest at low to middle elevations. Grows best in dry to moist, well-drained soils, in sun or shade. Although it prefers shadier sites and can tolerate deep shade.
Range: Common in second growth, closed canopy Douglas-fir forest (e.g., 50-100 years old). Hillsides and open woodlands.
Native Where: From the Cascades to the Pacific Ocean in southwestern British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon, with a scattering growth in northern California. This plant is rare east of the mountains.
Ecological Relationships: Prefers coniferous forest, Woodlands, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Deep Shade, Ground Cover.
(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)
Harvest:
Plant Part: tart blue berries, used nowadays to make a jelly or wine.
Season of Harvest: late fall
Method of Harvest: pick the berries
Ecological Considerations of Harvest: None given.
Cultural Considerations of Harvest: None found.
Cautions: None found.
(2)(8)
Plant Part: Young spring leaves.
Season of Harvest: Early spring.
Method of Harvest: Pick the leaves.
Ecological Considerations of Harvest: None found.
Cultural Considerations of Harvest: None found.
Cautions: None found.
(2)(8)
Indigenous and Non-Western Use/Significance/Relationships
Food: The Nisqually people made the bark of the root into a tea that was supposed to be good for the blood.
Part Used: The root was steeped and made into a tea.
Medicinal Actions: Good for the blood.
(6)
A few of my sources mentioned “tribes” but none were specific, except this one.
Personal Experience:
After a thorough and extended effort to find some sort of specific recipe for making a medicinal compound out of this plant and not finding anything explicit enough for me to feel safe (most of what was specific was for the related species Mahonia Aquifolium) I decided to make a dye. Many of the references I researched indicated that many tribes used the roots to make a dye (none of my references were specific on which tribes used Mahonia nervosa). Although I found no specific information on how to make a dye I made the decision to try by experiment.
After breaking the woody roots into pieces an inner voice seemed to suggest that I needed to do something more before I boiled it. I got out my hammer and went outside where I pounded the roots into a fibrous mass, and then boiled it. The whole process was unfamiliar but a part of me seemed to know that what I was doing was right. I tried soaking some paper in the hot water and it came out mushy and in pieces. I then soaked some more paper in the dye water after it cooled. This allowed the paper to stay more cohesive. I then dried the beautifully yellow colored paper and used it to make a collage for my nature journal.
References
1. Cronquist, Arthur, and Hitchcock, C. Leo. Flora of the Pacific Northwest. 9 th ed. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press. 1994
2. Domico, Terry. Wild Harvest: Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest. 4 th ed. Blaine, WA: Hancock House. 1994
3. Harrington, H. D. How to Identify Plants. 1957 Athens, Ohio. Ohio University Press. 1985
4. Mackinon, Andy, and Jim Pojar. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast.Vancouver, BC: Ministry of Forest and Lone Publishing, 1994.
5.Wiley, Leonard. Wild Harvest. Portland: Wiley. 1966
6. Smith, Marian W. The Puyallup-Nisqually. 1940. New York: AMS.1969
7. WSU Cooperative Extension Page Presents Native Plant Front Page Plant ID Data Base. Site Developer. Sharon Maier. 29 Oct. 2005. <http://cahedb.wsu.edu/nativePlant/scripts/webShowClass2.asp?ID=4>
8. Plants For A Future: Edible Medicinal and Useful Plants For A Healthier World. Ed. Rich Morris. 29 Oct.2005.
<http://www.pfaf.org/index.html>
Elizabeth Myers – Arts, Environment, and the Child: Walking the Wheel of the Seasons – Fall 2005.
Child Friendly Version:
Dull Oregon Grape
Latin Name: Mahonia Nervosa
It has bright yellow flowers in the spring and deep purple berries in the fall.
This plant is also called the Low Oregon Grape and the Mountain Oregon Grape.
It is a member of the Barberry Family
Latin Family Name: Berberidaceae
