Oregon grape

American  

noun

1. an evergreen shrub, Mahonia aquifolium, of the barberry family, of the western coast of the U.S., having small blue berries and yellow flowers that are the state flower of Oregon.

2. the berry itself.

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Oregon grape British  

noun

1. an evergreen berberidaceous shrub, Mahonia aquifolium, of NW North America, having yellow fragrant flowers and small blue edible berries

2. the berry of this shrub

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Etymology

Origin of Oregon grape

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

Dix organized work parties to clear paths and applied for a $2,200 King Conservation District grant to landscape and replant it with native plants — bunchberry, Oregon grape, flowering currant, salal.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 5, 2023

Sword ferns battle it out next to salal and Oregon grape, beneath draping Western red cedar and stout Douglas firs.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 26, 2022

Oregon grape to strengthen the liver, fireweed gel that helps with burns, cottonwood buds for healing cuts and scrapes, medicine for poor circulation and diabetes — the healing was all around us.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 11, 2022

Another species—B. repens—the creeping barberry, or Oregon grape, is a low, prostrate shrub, less than a foot high, with from three to seven leaflets.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth

The holly-leaved barberry, or Oregon grape, is a very ornamental shrub and one much prized in our gardens, where it is known as Mahonia Aquifolium.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth