 Like almost every "Berberis" species in South-America, "B. ilicifolia" belongs to the subgenus "Australes", characterised by simple, evergreen leaves and glaucous, purplish to black berries.Within that subgenus, "B. ilicifolia" forms a group with "B. chilensis", "B. litoralis", "B. valdiviana", "B. darwinii", "B. trigona", "B. serratodentata", "B. negeriana", and probably "B. laurina".This group more or less shares the following character states