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The berry of a plant called berberis, barberry grows in the temperate regions of the world. There are over 200 species of barberry, many of them prickly, ornamental evergreens.

The common barberry was introduced into the United States and Great Britain from temperate Europe and Asia, but, because the plant acts as host to a destructive wheat rust, its cultivation is forbidden in many places and a rust-resistant variety is grown instead.

Barberries are used in sauces, tarts and pies, and are also preserved in sugar. In Scandinavia the berries are a popular flavouring for drinks, sorbets and syrups.

In India, the Nepal and Asiatic bar- berries are dried in the sun and eaten like raisins. The Darwin barberry, from Chile, is widely grown in England as an ornamental shrub and bears quantities of edible little berries.