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

Very prominent is the wild cherry, the wild apple, the salmon berry, the thimble berry, the huckleberry, the salal berry, the Oregon grape, the blackberry, the strawberry, the wild currant, and the raspberry.

From The Beauties of the State of Washington A Book for Tourists by Giles, Harry F.

Among the fruit-bearing shrubs and trees are the service berry, choke cherry, Oregon grape, and elderberry.

From Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado by United States. Dept. of the Interior