Question

Which plant is described by these clues? The genus name is thought to descend from an old Arabic word for a tart fruit, passed down through medieval Latin. Its small nodding flowers are built on threes, with six petals set in two alternating {whorls} of three. Each pollen-bearing {anther} opens by two small hinged flaps rather than a simple lengthwise slit. Scrape the thin bark and the wood beneath glows bright yellow, coloured by a bitter alkaloid long used as a dye. The species name honours the Swedish naturalist and student of Linnaeus who first recorded this shrub in Japan in 1784. The form name means dark purple, a nod to the wine-coloured foliage that sets it apart from the green wild type. Its leaves are small, paddle-shaped and smooth-edged, 0.5 to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5 cm) long, and crowded in tufts along the stems. A single sharp {spine}, really a modified leaf, guards each {node} and makes the stems unpleasant to handle. It is native to mountain slopes, forest edges and rocky ground in Japan, and has escaped gardens to become an invader in the northeastern and midwestern United States. Small red oblong {berries} about 0.3 inch (8 mm) long cling to the bare winter stems and feed birds that spread the seed. This thorny, purple-leaved shrub from Japan, a staple of hedges and foundation plantings, is now restricted for sale in several American states.

Accepted Answer

Berberis thunbergii f. atropurpurea 'Helmond Pillar'

Name That Plant #123