Golden pygmy barberry plant named Bogozam

#The new and distinct variety of Berberis plant was discovered during 1971 from among seedlings being grown in a cultivated area tended by man. Such seedling of the new variety was the product of controlled crosses between Berberis thunbergii `Atropurpurea Nana` and Berberis thunbergii `Aurea` which had been made by me and were being grown at the Moretti Nursery located at 3525 Blackmore Road, Perry, Ohio 44081 in Zone 6a.

#My attention was initially attracted to the new variety since it was found to exhibit a combination of characteristics which differ significantly form those of its parents and all other cultivars derived from Berberis thunbergii of which I am aware. Had I not discovered and preserved this new plant it would have been lost to mankind.

#It has been found that the new and distinct golden pygmy barberry plant of the present invention exhibits the following combination of characteristics:

#The accompanying photographs show as nearly true as it is reasonably possible to make the same in color illustrations of this character, typical specimens of the plant and plant parts of the new variety during various stages of development. The specimens depicted were grown at Perry, Ohio.

#FIG. 1 illustrates an eight year-old plant of the new variety during the summer growing season wherein the golden coloration of mature foliage is apparent.

#FIG. 2 illustrates at the foreground a group planting of eight year-old plants of the new variety during the summer growing season.

#The chart used in the identification of colors is that of The Royal Horticultural Society (R.H.S. Colour Chart). Other references to color are to be accorded their ordinary dictionary significance. The descriptions are based upon plants grown at Perry, Ohio.

#The original plant of the new variety exhibits a highly manageable dwarf growth habit and presently is approximately 12 inches tall and approximately 28 inches wide. The new variety exhibits a rapid growth rate while well retaining a compact, broad, and low-mounding growth habit. In comparison, its parent, Berberis thunbergii `Aurea` is slow growing with an upright growth habit, and its parent Berberis thunbergii `Atropurpurea Nana` is a slow grower with a low and spreading growth habit. The new variety is expected to reach a height of approximately 18 inches and a width of approximately 36 inches at full maturity.

#The vegetative and reproductive parts of the new variety are in most respects typical of the genus. The entire, alternate, simple, leaves are broadly obovate to broadly spatulate. The spine-tipped leaves are borne in clusters along the branches and are approximately 1/2 to 3/4 inch in length narrowing at the base to a petiole which is approximately 1/16 to 1/4 inch in length. The immature leaves of the new variety during mid-season commonly range in coloration from approximately that of Yellow Group 6A to 6C, 7A to 7C, and 10A on the upper surface, and tend to be somewhat paler on the under surface with a coloration which approximates that of Yellow Group 10B to 10D. Leaves on mature stems commonly exhibit a coloration which approximates that of Green Group 143A on the upper surface and tend to be of a somewhat paler coloration on the under surface which approximates that of Green Group 139D. Emerging new growth has a distinctly red coloration that is of a brighter and more intense shade than that of its parent Berberis thunbergii `Aurea`. The coloration of the outer leaf margin of the leaves and the leaf shoots commonly approximates that of Red Group 43A. Such coloration generally is more intense at the stem internodes. During the fall season the foliage commonly assumes a coloration which approximates that of the Red Group 48B, 49B, and 49C. Foliage colors are specified for plants of the new variety when grown in full sun. If grown in the shade, the foliage coloration will not be as intense in accordance with a trait shared by plants of the genus.