Rhamnus alnifolia

Rhamnus alnifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rhamnaceae
Genus:	Rhamnus
Species:	R. alnifolia
Binomial name
	Rhamnus alnifolia; L'Hér.
Synonyms
	List Apetlothamnus alnifolia (L'Hér.) Nieuwl. ; Endotropis alnifolia (L'Hér.) ; Girtanneria alnifolia (L'Hér.) Raf. ; Ventia alnifolia (L'Hér.) ; Frangula americana Mill. ; Girtanneria franguloides (Michx.) Raf. ; Rhamnus alnifolia f. angustifolia D.Löve & J.-P.Bernard ; Rhamnus alpina Richardson ; Rhamnus franguloides Michx. ;

Rhamnus alnifolia is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family known by the common names alderleaf buckthorn,^[1] or alder buckthorn. Unlike other "buckthorns", this alder buckthorn does not have thorns.^[2] It is native to North America, where it is known mainly from the southern half of Canada and the northern half of the United States and California.^[3]^[4] It can be found in forested habitat.

Description

Rhamnus alnifolia is a spreading shrub usually 0.5 to 1.5 metres (20 to 59 inches) tall,^[5] rarely to 2 m (6 1⁄2 ft), its thin branches bearing deciduous leaves.^[6] The thin, deeply veined leaves have oval blades 4.5 to 11 centimetres (1 3⁄4 to 4 3⁄8 in) long, pointed at the tip and lightly toothed along the edges.^[5] The inflorescence is a solitary flower or umbel of up to three flowers occurring in leaf axils. The tiny flowers are about 1 millimetre (1⁄16 in) wide^[6] and have five green sepals but no petals.^[7] Female flowers produce drupes 6 to 8 mm (1⁄4 to 5⁄16 in) wide, each containing three seeds. The drupes darken to black when ripe.^[5]

Uses

Native Americans used the species as a laxative.^[8]

References

^ NRCS. "Rhamnus alnifolia". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 20 October 2015.
^ Catling, P.M., and Z.S. Porebski. 1994. The history of invasion and current status of glossy buckthorn, Rhamnus frangula, in Southern Ontario. Canadian Field-Naturalist 108:305–310
^ "Rhamnus alnifolia". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
^ "Rhamnus alnifolia". State-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c Nesom, Guy L. (2016). "Rhamnus alnifolia". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 12. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
^ ^a ^b Jepson Flora Project (ed.). "Rhamnus alnifolia". Jepson eFlora. The Jepson Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley.
^ Chayka, Katy; Dziuk, Peter (2016). "Rhamnus alnifolia (Alder-leaved Buckthorn)". Minnesota Wildflowers.
^ Arno, Stephen F.; Hammerly, Ramona P. (2020) [1977]. Northwest Trees: Identifying & Understanding the Region's Native Trees (field guide ed.). Seattle: Mountaineers Books. p. 266. ISBN 1-68051-329-X. OCLC 1141235469.

External links

Rhamnus alnifolia in the CalPhotos photo database, University of California, Berkeley

This Rhamnaceae article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] NRCS. "Rhamnus alnifolia". PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 20 October 2015.

[2] Catling, P.M., and Z.S. Porebski. 1994. The history of invasion and current status of glossy buckthorn, Rhamnus frangula, in Southern Ontario. Canadian Field-Naturalist 108:305–310

[3] "Rhamnus alnifolia". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.

[4] "Rhamnus alnifolia". State-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.

[FNA-5] Nesom, Guy L. (2016). "Rhamnus alnifolia". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 12. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.

[Jepson-6] Jepson Flora Project (ed.). "Rhamnus alnifolia". Jepson eFlora. The Jepson Herbarium, University of California, Berkeley.

[7] Chayka, Katy; Dziuk, Peter (2016). "Rhamnus alnifolia (Alder-leaved Buckthorn)". Minnesota Wildflowers.

[arno-8] Arno, Stephen F.; Hammerly, Ramona P. (2020) [1977]. Northwest Trees: Identifying & Understanding the Region's Native Trees (field guide ed.). Seattle: Mountaineers Books. p. 266. ISBN 1-68051-329-X. OCLC 1141235469.

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