With slender stems and branches armed with 3–5 forked spines, this 3–6 foot tall (1–2 m) leafy bush booms with clusters of small, bright yellow flowers. Note the simple leaves (not compound) lined with tiny bristles, and small, oblong, red berries; thicket forming.

FLOWER: May–August. Loose, rounded, dangling clusters in the leaf axils have 4–15 flowers 3/8 inch wide (8 mm) with 6 erect, oval petals, and 6 petal-like sepals; fruit red, juicy, oblong, 1/4 inch long (6–8 mm).

LEAVES: Alternate, in bundles of 4–5, stalkless (sessile), rich red fall colors; blades narrowly elliptic, thin, flexible, 5/8–1 3/4 inches long (17-46 mm) by 1/4–3/4 inch wide (6–17 mm); edges entire or lined with tiny bristle teeth, surfaces smooth, bases tapered, tip pointed to rounded.

HABITAT: Rocky slopes, canyons, stream banks; western plains, ponderosa, spruce-fir forests.

ELEVATION: 6,000–10,500 feet.

RANGE: CO, NM, UT.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Other native barberries in NM have pinnately compound leaves with rigid, spine-tipped leaflets.

NM COUNTIES: Common in western plains and mountain forests of northern NM in mid- to high-elevation, dry habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Dona Ana, Hidalgo, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Taos, Torrance, Valencia.