Flowers:
Yellow (Bright yellow flowers in 2-3" long terminal racemes in April)
Foliage:
Green (Evergreen foliage is spine-toothed, lustrous or dull, dark or bluish-green in spring/summer); Red-Violet (Purplish-red-green in fall/winter)
Fruit:
Blue (Glaucous blue fruits (0.3-0.5" dia.) persistent until December)
Soil:
Widely adapted to different soils, except those with a high pH (chlorosis)
Range:
British Columbia to Oregon
Diagnostic Characteristics:
Thickish evergreen leaves (6-12" long) are opposite, pinnately compound (5-9 sessile leaflets 1.5-3.5" long), with spiny-dentate margins. Stems are grayish-brown at maturity. Leaf scars are narrow and half encircle the stem.
