Berberis napaulensis (DC.) Spreng.
Nepal Barberry is an erect evergreen shrub to 3 m, with stout little-branched stems and large pinnate leaves borne at the ends of the stems. Flowers are yellow, in a at branch-ends cluster of several or many dense many-flowered spikes, 10-25 cm long. Petals about 6 mm, notched. Leaves oblong-lanceshaped. to 40 cm, with 4-7 pairs of stiff. slightly overlapping ovate leaflets with spiny marginal teeth and pointed apices; leaflets largest in the middle of the leaf, 6-9 crn long. Fruit in dense cylindrical clusters; berries purple-blue, round, strongly bloomed, 8-9 mm across. Nepal Barberry is found in the Himalayas, from W. Nepal to Bhutan, NE India, at altitudes of 2000-2900 m, and Southern Western Ghats. Flowering: 0ctober-April.
In the Nilgiris, it is of religious and medicinal importance to the native Toda people of Tamil Nadu, who call it “Thovari” in their language. They use a paste made of the bark as a Traditional medicine remedy for women immediately after childbirth.
