Berberis shenii is a shrub in the Berberidaceae described as a species in 1928. It is endemic to China, found in the provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Hunan.[ Flora of China Vol. 19 Page 776 沈氏十大功劳 shen shi shi da gong lao Mahonia shenii Chun]
Taxonomy
Berberis shenii was initially scientifically described and named
Mahonia shenii by Woon-Young Chun (Huan-Yong Chen, 陈焕镛).
He named it in honor of Professor P.F. Shen of Sun Yatsen University in Canton (
Guangzhou).
A paper published by Joseph Edward Laferrière in 1997 summarized the arguments for
Mahonia being more properly classified as a synonym of
Berberis renaming it
Berberis shenii. As of 2023 this is the most common classification by botanists.
