Plant Description Barberry is a shrub that can grow to about nine feet and has gray, thorny branches. Its leaves have spiny teeth. Between April and June, bright yellow flowers bloom. These become dark red berries in the fall, which grow in drooping bunches. You can use the ripe berries for jam, or in ways similar to cranberries.
Barberries are a little more sour and less bitter than cranberries.
Barberry bark and root bark contain many types of chemicals called isoquinoline alkaloids. Scientists and researchers have studied these constituents for many years, and have found that they do indeed have antibiotic actions. Some of them lower fevers, reduce swelling, lower blood pressure, and help normalize heart rate and the contractions of the heart muscle. Available Forms Barberry comes as tea, powdered in capsules, in fluid extracts or tinctures, and as a topical ointment. Extracts are standardized to 8 to 12 percent isoquinoline alkaloid content.