Shrub · Berberidaceae
Creeping barberry
Mahonia repens
Creeping barberry is recorded as native to 15 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 242 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Creeping barberry at a glance
- Native in
- 242 counties, across 15 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a PLANTS minimum temperature −23°F
- Mature height
- 2 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −23°F; zone 5a winters bottom out at −20°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Creeping barberry is recorded as native to 15 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 242 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 242 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arizona 8 counties
- California 22 counties
- Colorado 34 counties
- Idaho 28 counties
- Minnesota 1 county
- Montana 31 counties
- Nebraska 3 counties
- Nevada 6 counties
- New Mexico 13 counties
- Oregon 24 counties
- South Dakota 6 counties
- Texas 1 county
- Utah 29 counties
- Washington 16 counties
- Wyoming 20 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 2 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Stoloniferous
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 15 to 45 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium
- pH range
- 5.5 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 10 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −23°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 180
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- Yes
- Fruit color
- Blue
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Berberidaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- MARE11
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Mahonia repens (PLANTS symbol MARE11).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources