64 HANDBOOK 14 8. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



20. Leaf margins entire or very finely toothed. 



[Alternate 20, p. 56.] 

 29. Side veins distinct, nearly parallel (upcurving 



near margins); teeth gland-tipped; true end 

 buds lacking, stem tips dying back to topmost 

 side buds; ripe "berries" (drupes) black, 

 cathartic-emetic, stalked, borne singly or in 

 umbrella-shaped clusters in leaf axils; "seeds" 

 (nutlets) usually 3. 



buckthorns (Rhamnus spp.). 

 30. Leaf margins almost entire (wavy or distantly 

 fine-toothed) ; leaves clustered near twig tips, 

 elliptic to oblong or reversely egg-shaped, to 

 6 (or 8) inches long, 3 inches wide; side veins 

 9-16 pairs; buds naked (without bud scales), 

 resembling tiny, brown-hairy, clustered 

 leaves; "berries" purplish-black, in stalked 

 clusters; "seeds" smooth, on outer side; bark 

 (the cascara sagrada of the drug trade) 

 smooth, gray, stripped for medicinal use; 

 tall shrubs or small trees, stump-sprouting 

 after cutting; moist sites, mostly w. of 

 Cascades but also in e. Oreg., e. Wash, at 

 lower elevations (3,000 feet); type locality 

 along Clearwater River near Kamiah, Nez 

 Perce Co., Idaho. 

 cascara buckthorn (Rhamnus pur shiana). 



30. Leaf margins with rounded teeth; gland tips 

 appressed, apparently lying between teeth; 

 leaves scattered along twigs, elliptic to oval, 

 often taper-pointed at tip, to 4 inches long 

 and nearly 2 inches wide; side veins 6-10 

 pairs; buds with several overlapping bud 

 scales; "berries" black, single or 2- to 3- 

 clustered in leaf axils; "seeds" notched at 

 tip, ridged down from top on outer sides; 

 spreading shrubs to 6 (or 10) feet high; wet 

 sites at higher elevations (to 7,000 feet or 

 more), e. Oreg., e. Wash. 



alder buckthorn (Rhamnus alnifolia). 

 29. Side veins indistinct, not parallel, leaves some- 

 times net-veiny; leaf margin veins (or teeth, if 

 present) ending in gland-tipped hairs; leaf scars 

 with only 1 bundle trace. 



31. Bud scales several, overlapping; flower-and- 

 leafv-shoot buds separate, opening about 

 same time, on last year's twigs. 



32. End buds present; leaves clustered near 

 twig tips, to more than 1 inch long; seed 

 pods (capsules) splitting down along parti- 

 tions into 4 or ."> parts, cupped in calyx 

 lobes; erect shrubs usually 2-6 feet high, 

 poisonous, cause sheep losses; moist sites, 



