The species most often found in South Carolina are wintergreen barberry, Mentor barberry and Japanese barberry. Many cultivars are available. It grows from 3 to 6 feet tall and 4 to 7 feet wide, depending on the cultivar. The shrub is medium to very dense with many thorns. The leaves are bright green in summer, changing to orange, scarlet and reddish purple in the fall.
Japanese barberry is deciduous, and it is one of the first shrubs to leaf out in spring.
This is true for most of the deciduous barberries. The yellow flowers in spring are not very showy, because they are small and borne under the foliage, but the berries are bright red in the fall. The -inch berries persist into winter and make an excellent winter effect. It grows about 10 feet tall and wide. The thorns and dense growth habit combine to make this an excellent barrier plant.