About Mahonia dictyota (Jeps.) Fedde
Mahonia dictyota (Jeps.) Fedde is also referred to as Berberis dictyota. It is an evergreen shrub that grows up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) tall. Its leaves are pinnate, with 5 to 7 leaflets. The leaflets are thick and rigid, with a thick waxy layer that makes their underside whitish, and they can grow up to 9 cm long, with spines along their edges. Yellow flowers grow in dense racemes that can hold up to 50 flowers, and the plant blooms from February through April. Its fruits are egg-shaped dark blue berries, sometimes covered with a waxy coating, that grow up to 7 mm long. This plant is endemic to California, where it is very widespread. It can be found from the Peninsular Ranges in San Diego County north to the Klamath Mountains in Siskiyou County, and east to the Sierra Nevada. It grows natively in chaparral, Foothill oak woodland, and yellow pine forest habitats, at elevations between 600 and 1,800 metres (2,000–5,900 ft).
