Abstract:After examining the type specimens and the original literatures of Berberis wuliangshanensis C. Y. Wu ex S. Y. Bao and B. jingguensis G. S. Fan et X. W. Li, little difference was found between these two species in the key morphological characteristics. Though B. jingguensis was ever described as a new species for its unusual feature of being a woody liana, however, such a “woody liana” character was also mentioned in the field note of a few specimens of a shrub species of B. wuliangshanensis, and could be resulted from a false field record, consequently, this character should be explained as an arching habit of the stem spreading out by its spines. In addition, the type specimens of both species were collected in the evergreen broad-leaved forests of Wuliangshan Mountain at elevation around 2500 m in Yunnan Province, China. Thus, B. jingguensis is treated as a synonym of B. wuliangshanensis.
