Berberidopsis is a small genus of woody climbing plants in the family Berberidopsidaceae, placed in the order Berberidopsidales. The genus contains only two known species, making it one of the smallest genera in its family: Berberidopsis corallina, the coral plant, native to the coastal forests of Chile, and Berberidopsis beckleri, the montane tape vine, endemic to New South Wales, Australia. This disjunct Southern Hemisphere distribution — with one species in South America and one in Australia — has attracted botanical interest in the context of Gondwanan biogeography.
Plants in the genus are twining or scandent evergreen shrubs that use other vegetation for support. Berberidopsis corallina is the better-studied species: it produces dark green, alternating, ovate to heart-shaped leaves with spiny-toothed margins, and bears clusters of dangling, spherical flowers composed of nine to fifteen deep crimson petal-like segments in terminal and axillary racemes. The flowers are among the more ornamentally striking features of the genus, giving rise to the common name "coral plant."
The family Berberidopsidaceae was long treated as part of the broadly circumscribed Flacourtiaceae, but molecular phylogenetic work prompted its recognition as a distinct family. The APG III classification of 2009 formally established the order Berberidopsidales, which contains Berberidopsidaceae and the related family Aextoxicaceae. The genus was described by Joseph Dalton Hooker (Hook.fil.) and first published in Botanical Magazine in 1862.
Distribution
Berberidopsis has a disjunct Southern Hemisphere distribution, with B. corallina native to coastal forests of Arauco province in Chile — where it may now be extinct in the wild — and B. beckleri endemic to New South Wales, Australia. The genus comprises just two species, one per continent.
Taxonomy Notes
The genus was originally placed in the broadly defined family Flacourtiaceae, but is now recognized as the core of the monofamilial order Berberidopsidales (APG III, 2009), which also includes Aextoxicaceae. Berberidopsis was described by Joseph Dalton Hooker and published in Botanical Magazine, t. 5343 (1862). The family Berberidopsidaceae also encompasses Streptothamnus (one species, S. moorei), making the order notable for its small size and disjunct range.
Conservation
Berberidopsis corallina is described as a threatened woody vine, potentially extinct at its type locality in the forests behind the port of Coronel, Arauco province, Chile. Traditional use of its stems in basketry by the southern Mapuche people may have contributed to pressure on wild populations.
Cultivation
Berberidopsis corallina is cultivated as an ornamental in mild climates, particularly in western gardens in the UK. It requires a sheltered position — ideally against a wall — in deep, moist, fertile, acidic soil (loam and sand), protected from drying winds and direct sunlight. Slightly alkaline soils may be tolerated if amended with peat. Plants can be propagated from cuttings or layers; young plants benefit from a little peaty soil at planting time.
