Himalayan Barberry

Berberis aristata, called Indian barberry here and in some places tree turmeric, is a shrub of the family Berberidaceae, native to the Himalayas in India, Pakistan and Nepal, and also found in the Nilgiri Mountains and Sri Lanka. It is an erect spiny woody shrub 2 to 3 metres tall, with three-branched thorns that are modified leaves. Its bark appears yellow to brown outside and deep yellow inside. Yellow flowers open from mid-March through April in racemes of 11 to 16. People eat the juicy fruits, often as a dessert, and make an alcoholic drink from the roots. The whole plant is a good source of dye and tannin. The stem, roots and fruits are used in Ayurveda, and the page describes a root-bark extract called rasaunt, which contains the alkaloid berberine.