Question: Two plants with similar leaves growing next to each other. The smaller has red leaves, the larger has flowers. Great …
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Question
Two plants with similar leaves growing next to each other. The smaller has red leaves, the larger has flowers. Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Massachusetts. Edge of trail in woods.
Answer
Dear jfc, you've photographed Berberis thunbergii (Thunberg's barberry). This species has entire leaves and simple spines (i.e., unbranched spines) at the nodes. There are other species of this genus in New England, but they toothed leaf margins and usually have some spines that are compound (i.e., branched).
