View photos of the edible and medicinal plant Berberis repens [Mahonia repens] (Creeping holly grape), profiled in Medicinal Plants of the Western Mountain States and the Wild Edible Series: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Northern California, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

A passage from Medicinal Plants of the Western Mountain States:

Oregongrape’s berberine content (an isoquinoline alkaloid) is directly inhibiting to pathogenic gastrointestinal microbes and their harmful endotoxins. Take the plant if suffering from food poisoning, Giardia infection, amebiasis, and other GI tract parasitic/microbial infections.

A passage from Wild Edible Plants of Arizona:

Preferring the shade of overhead trees, it’s mostly associated with Ponderosa pine (and Gamble oak). Look for this little perennial sub–shrub from 5000’ to 8500’.

A passage from Wild Edible Plants of New Mexico:

The berries form in clutches and are pleasant tasting: sweet–tart with a hint of bitter. They are fine consumed fresh or can be prepared as a jelly/fruit preserve. Another option is to dehydrate the berries and add them to trail mix and the like.