Barberry, sour thorn (Berberis vulgaris) is a shrub rather than a tree, although old specimens can grow up to 5 meters high. It often grows along forest edges and as a hedge. Common in Asia and southern Europe, it was almost completely eradicated in Europe because it was recognized in the 19th century that barberry was an intermediate host of cereal black rust and thus contributed significantly to the spread of this cereal pest. The name sour thorn came from the very sour berries and the three-part thorns on the leaf shoots. The flowers appear in May and are colorful intense yellow. Barberry is believed to have healing properties, and extracts are still made from the fruit and bark today. The small red berries are sour, very rich in vitamins and were used as fruit in the past, their juice replaced lemons. A greater role played the berries for the production of jams, because the taste of this jam is very special and appreciated by many people. The bark and root contain the strong coloring alkaloid berberin, these were used for dyeing textiles, leather and wood yellow. The hard dense and beautiful wood is used for marquetry and woodturning and has an extremely striking intense sulfur yellow luminous color that is very durable. The wood is very difficult to dry and has a strong tendency to crack, but one can only speak of a unique wood because of its color!
Please note that these blanks may have bark residue or discoloration. In the case of knife blanks, such spots do not constitute grounds for complaint, as these spots would disappear anyway when the blank is used for its intended purpose for a knife handle.
