Mahonia bealei

Scientific Name: Mahonia bealei
Common Name: leatherleaf mahonia

Sharp-tipped evergreen leaves and grape-like clusters of blue berries help identify leatherleaf mahonia.
Photographer: Nancy Loewenstein, Auburn University, Bugwood.org CC BY-NC

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Leatherleaf mahonia is a commonly planted ornamental evergreen shrub, native to China. It is now invading woodlands in the Mid-Atlantic and southern U.S.

Distinctive features: Spikes of lemon-yellow flowers in late fall, and grape-like clusters of blue berries by summer; evergreen leaves whose parts look like sharp-tipped holly leaves arranged symmetrically along a stem.