Shining Netvein Barberry

Berberis dictyota is an evergreen shrub up to 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) tall. Leaves are pinnate, with 5-7 leaflets; leaflets thick and rigid, whitish with a thick waxy layer on the underside, up to 9 cm long, with spines along the edges. Yellow flowers are borne in dense racemes of up to 50 flowers. The bloom period is February through April. Berries are egg-shaped, dark blue, sometimes with a waxy coating, up to 7 mm long.

The plant is endemic to California. It is very widespread, found from the Peninsular Ranges in San Diego County north to the Klamath Mountains in Siskiyou County, and east to the Sierra Nevada. It is native to chaparral, Foothill oak woodland, and yellow pine forest habitats, at elevations of 600–1,800 metres (2,000–5,900 ft).