Description from Flora of China
Berberis fargesii (Takeda) Laferrière; B. huiliensis (Handel-Mazzetti) Laferrière; B. sheridaniana (C. K. Schneider) Laferrière; Mahonia fargesii Takeda; M. huiliensis Handel-Mazzetti.
Shrubs, 0.3-3 m tall. Leaves abaxially pale, adaxially dull to ± shiny, elliptic to oblong-oblanceolate, 17-36 × 8-14 cm, with 4-9 pairs of leaflets, lowest pair 7-10 mm above base of petiole, abaxially with venation slightly branched and slightly raised, adaxially indistinctly veined; internodes 1.5-5 cm, decreasing in length upward; leaflets separate or sometimes contiguous, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, thick, rigid, lowest pair 1.2-3 × 0.8-1.5 cm, increasing in size upward and becoming 3-9.5 × 1.5-3.6 cm, base broadly rounded to subtruncate or subcordate, slightly oblique, margin with 2-5 teeth on each side, apex acute, cuspidate; terminal leaflet equal to or much larger than others, 6.5-11 × 2.5-4 cm, petiolule 0.8-2.5 cm. Inflorescence 4-10-fascicled racemes, 5-18 cm; bracts of inflorescence broadly lanceolate to ovate, 1-2 × 0.5-1.2 cm. Pedicel 3-5 mm; floral bracts ovate, 2-3.5 × 1-1.7 mm. Sepals yellow; outer sepals narrowly ovate or ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 2.5-4.5 × 1.5-1.6 mm; median sepals ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 4.5-6 × 2-3 mm; inner sepals elliptic, 5.5-8.2 × 3-3.8 mm. Petals obovate or elliptic to oblong, 5-6.5 × 2-2.8 mm, base with distinct glands, apex emarginate. Stamens 3-4 mm; anther connective not prolonged, truncate. Ovary 2-3 mm; ovules 2 or 3; style ca. 0.3 mm. Berry bluish black or dark purple, pruinose, ovoid to ellipsoid, 8-10 × 4-7 mm; style persistent, short. Fl. Mar-Apr, fr. Apr-Jun.
● Evergreen broad-leaved forests, bamboo forests, thickets, trailsides, slopes; 1200-2600 m. SC Hubei, Sichuan.