Mahonia repens (Lindl.) G. Don
Oregon grape, creeping barberry, creeping Oregon-grape
Creeping barberry is a low, creeping evergreen plant waxy-looking blue berries. It is a North American native.
Plants: Shrubs are ¾–8″ (2–20 cm) tall, with stiff branches.
Leaves: Sharp-edged and shiny, dark green or blue-green, sometimes tinged with red or purple, 2–3″ (5–7.6 cm) long. Leaves are pinnately compound, with 3-7 oval leaflets, ⅞–2½″ (2.5–6.5 cm). They are often mistaken for holly leaves.
Flowers: Racemes ⅞–3″ (2.5–7.5 cm) of deep yellow flowers.
Fruits: Berries are oval-shaped, sharply tapered at the ends, about ⅜″ (9.5 mm) long, blue, with a waxy or powdery-looking coating. Each berry contains a seed.
Habitats: Middle elevations, sometimes near streambanks; yellow pine forest, red fir forest, chaparral; often near alligator juniper.
Edibility: Edible, but tart and astringent enough so they are rarely eaten by people. Birds enjoy them though.
Online References:
9/1/2007 · Mt. St. Helens, Washington 
ID is uncertain 
5/22/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 1 × 1½′ (39 × 44 cm) 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Magnoliidae | Includes magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others |
| Order | Ranunculales | Basal (evolved earlier) eudicots, also called “true dicots” |
| Family | Berberidaceae | Barberry family |
| Genus | Mahonia | After the Irish-born horticulturist Bernard McMahon (sometimes spelled M’Mahon) (1775-1816), described as a botanist and seedsman who came to the U.S. in 1796 and was a nurseryman in Philadelphia |
| Species | repens | Having creeping and rooting stems |
Mahonia repens description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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