Nature’s Classroom: Colorado Edible & Medicinal Native Plants, Oregon Grape
David Anthony Martin
This is the fifty-ninth in a series of articles from the staff of the Nature & Wildlife Discovery Center that will provide resources and outdoor activity ideas for students and families. The public can help the nonprofit NWDC get through this challenging time by making a donation at https://hikeandlearn.org/donate/. Join NWDC for guided hikes and other exciting nature programs listed here: https://hikeandlearn.org/programs-and-events/.
A late spring walk in our greenways and wild areas will reveal lot of wildflowers blooming, attracting pollinating insects and hummingbirds. Dandelions, of course, are a common and easily recognizable example, but another plant, commonly known as Oregon Grape, is also an important food source for bees and butterflies. Oregon Grape, Mahonia (or Berberis) repens is a member of the Barberry family, which grows in the foothills, montane, and subalpine Life Zones and can be easily found in areas of high canopied pines. It is a low-growing, perennial, evergreen plant here in Colorado, has tough and toothy edged leaves, and bears clusters of bright yellow, slightly fragrant flowers in spring.