Berberis baluchistanica Ahrendt.
حملب
For people
- Eaten by people
- Unknown
- Toxic to people
- Unknown
For livestock
- Grazed by livestock
- Not grazed
- Toxic to livestock
- Unknown
Edibility and safety notes
No source was found documenting people eating the fruit of this species, although the sour berries of several other barberries (e.g. zereshk, Berberis vulgaris) are eaten; do not assume the same here. The bark and roots are used in Balochistan traditional medicine as powder or decoction and contain the alkaloid berberine, which can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea in large amounts and is considered unsafe in pregnancy. The book rates it non-pastoral; it is a stiff spiny shrub that livestock generally avoid.
This guide is a hobby project, not expert advice. Never eat a wild plant, or feed it to animals, on the strength of this page alone. Read the disclaimer
Description
An evergreen shrub up to 3 meters tall with red-brown to red stems and thick rigid leaves. Produces yellow flowers between March and May. Belongs to the family Berberidaceae.
Habitat
Grows in mountainous terrain in arid and semi-arid regions.
Distribution
Known only from south-western Pakistan (Balochistan: Harboi, Kalat, Zarghun near Quetta, Ziarat) and the mountains of northern Oman.
Pastoral value
Not grazed; a stiff, spiny shrub that livestock avoid.
Other uses
Important medicinal plant used traditionally as decoction or powder for treating various diseases. Root extracts show antibacterial activity against food-borne pathogens. Contains over 70 bioactive compounds with various medicinal properties.
Sources
- الدليل الحقلي المصور للنباتات البرية في سلطنة عُمان (BOOK.pdf p.51)
- POWO — Berberis baluchistanica Ahrendt — powo.science.kew.org
- Frontiers in Microbiology 2022 — High Throughput Screening for Bioactive Components of Berberis baluchistanica Ahrendt Root — frontiersin.org
- PMC — same article (PMC9345709) — pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Wikipedia — Berberis (genus: fruit edibility and berberine) — en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia — Berberis baluchistanica — en.wikipedia.org