Sometimes called "holly-grape," Fremont barberry is one of the few South Rim shrubs with prickly, holly-like leaves (the related, but much smaller, ground-hugging Oregon grape also has prickly leaves). The leaflets are about an inch long. While usually a 5 to 8 foot shrub, it can grow to small tree-size. A specimen just west of the Yavapai Point Museum is about 12 feet tall with a 6-inch diameter trunk.
Tidy little yellow flowers cover the bush in summer and develop into dark blue berries that make good jam. Indians ate the berries ground into a mush. I like their sweet-tart flavor right off the bush. The leaves are compound--each apparent "leaf" is actually one of 3 to 7 leaflets that all branch from a common stalk.
On some individuals the leaves turn shades of red and yellow in the fall. Other plants stay green. Leaves cling to the plant all winter. Like so many opportunistic arid-land plants, off-season precipitation can stimulate flowering and fruiting. This occurred in November of 2002 despite a week of freezing temperatures.