North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 02:23 AM 11/30/2006, you wrote:
> See request below from a former
> student.  Please weigh in with any info.
> Thanks,
> Richard
> East TN---Where the medlars are getting mushy.
>  
> "One of my colleagues from Russia brought in an interesting candy
> made from barberries.  These berries, as I've discovered, are the
> fruit from the Berberis thunbergii shrub.  I was curious if
> you new anything about this small, red berry, specifically if they have
> any nutritional or antioxidant value."

Richard, 
Some of the introduced barberry species, including B.thunbergii, are
beginning to show up on 'invasive alien' plant lists in some states.
TN puts B. thunbergii in the Rank II category - "Exotic plant
species that possess characteristics of invasive species but are not
presently considered to spread into native plant communities as are those
classified as Rank I".
http://www.tneppc.org/TNEPPC2004PlantList-8x11.pdf

I'm beginning to find a few 'volunteer' red-leafed B. thunbergii
seedlings popping up in fencerows and woods' edges on the farm here,
presumably courtesy of the birds feeding on these little shrubs that are
very common in the residential landscapes in my neighborhood.

Lucky Pittman
USDA Cold Zone 6
AHS Heat Zone 7
Hopkinsville, KY