THE DICTIONARY 
OF GARDENING, 
sometimes changed to thorns. The most useful genera, 
from an economic point of view, are Rhamnus and Zizy- 
phus, the species of which yield medicinal juices, &c. 
Rhamnus davuricus and R. tinctorius yield the famous 
Green Indigo, the Lo-Kao of China. The order com- 
prises thirty-seven genera, and about 430 species. Ex-, 
amples: Hovenia, Paliwrus, Pomaderris, and Rhamnus. 
RHAMNUS (from Rhamnos, the old Greek name 
used by Theophrastus). Buckthorn. Including Frangula. 
ORD. Rhamnee. A genus embracing about sixty species 
of stove, greenhouse, or hardy shrubs or trees, inhabiting 
temperate and tropical regions. Flowers axillary, race- 
mose or cymose; calyx four or five-fid, the tube urceolate, 
the lobes keeled within ; petals four or five, cucullate or 
flat, or wanting; stamens four or five; filaments very 
short. Drupe berry-like, oblong or spherical, two or 
four-stoned. Leaves alternate, rarely sub-opposite, pe- 
tiolate, deciduous or evergreen, penninerved, entire or 
toothed ; stipules small, deciduous. Several of the species 
afford useful products, especially dyes, and the fruits of 
many possess violent purgative properties. Few of the 
plants are valuable from a garden standpoint. The hardy 
kinds grow in any ordinary soil, and may be propagated 
by layers, or by seeds. The stove and greenhouse 
species are easily grown in any light soil, and may 
be multiplied by cuttings, inserted in sand, under a glass 
(the stove kinds in heat). Except where otherwise stated, 
the under-mentioned species are hardy, deciduous shrubs. 
R. Alaternus (Alaternus). /l. green, dicecious, disposed in short 
racemes ; petals wanting. April to June. J. ovate-elliptic or 
lanceolate, coriaceous, quite smooth, serrated. k. 20ft. Medi- 
terranean region, 1629. There are several varieties of this 
species, the best being one with foliage broadly margined with 
silvery-white : this is known under the name of R. A. variegata. 
R. alpinus (aipine). /. greenish, dicecious, four-parted ; female 
ones with four-cleft stigmas. May and June. fr. black. l. oval- 
lanceolate, crenate-serrated, smooth, lined with many parallel 
nerves. k. 4ft. Europe, &., 1752. (L. B. C. 1077.) 
R. californicus (Californian). 4. greenish, pentandrous ; panicles 
on short peduncles. May. Jl. coriaceous, about 2in. long, 
elliptic-oblong, omie revolute on the margins, glabrous ; young 
ones pubescent, 6ft. to 12ft. North America, 1874. An un- 
armed evergreen shrub. SYN. R. oleifolius (H. F. B. A. i. 44). 
FIG. 361. FLOWERING AND FRUITING TWIGS OF RHAMNUS 
CATHARTICUS. 
R. catharticus (cathartic). jl. green, in, in diameter, four- 
arted, solitary and fascicled in the axils of the fascicles of 
leaves on the previous year’s wood. May to July. fr. black, 4in. 
in diameter. J. ovate, acutely-serrated, lin. to Zin. long, fascicled 
at the ends of the shoots, sub-opposite lower down, shortly 
petiolate, the young ones downy beneath. h. 5ft. to 10ft. 
Europe (Britain), &c. See Fig. 361. (F. D. v. 850; Sy. En. B. 318.) 
R. croceus (yellow). A. greenish, in axillary clusters, pentandrous ; 
petals wre iy ay. fr. greenish or yellowish. J. coriaceous, 
roundish-obovate, about }in. long, lucid; when dry, of a bright 
llowish-brown beneath. h. 4ft, California, 1848. A much- 
ranched, thorny, evergreenshrub. (J. H. S. vi., p. 217.) 
R. davuricus (Dahurian). . Jl. greenish-yellow, four - parted, 
numerous, fascicled in the axils. May. Z. glabrous, fascicled at 
the ends of the exceedingly congested branchlets, jin. to 2hin. 
long, obovate, acuminate, to narrow elliptic-lanceolate. Spines 
terminating the divaricating branches. A. 15ft. to 20ft. China, 
Eastern Siberia, &c., 1817, or shrub. Syn. R. utilis. 
Rhamnus—continued. 
R. d. hirsutus (hairy). l. 2in. long. A large shrub or small tree. 
R. Frangula (Frangula). Berry-bearing Alder. fl. enish- 
white, five-parted, few, axillary. May and June. fr. black, fin. in 
diameter, globose. l. obovate, quite entire, alternate ; stipules 
Fic, 362. FLOWERING AND FRUITING TWIGS OF RHAMNUS 
— FRANGULA. 
subulate. Branches slender, unarmed. Ah. 5ft. to 10ft. Euro 
sas is used by 
. -) 
R. libanoticus (Lebanon). fi. yellowish, fasciculate. May. 
l clustered at the tips of the branchlets, slightly tomentose, 
shortly penoa. ovato or oblong, obtuse, rounded at base, 
margin finely denticulate. Branches clothed with whitish bark. 
h. 6ft. Asia Minor and Syria, 1879. Plant unarmed. The 
foliage turns a dull bronzy-purple in autumn. (B. M. 6721.) 
R. macrophyllus (large-leaved). ` fr. black. J. 5in. to 6in. long. 
2hin. to 3in, broad, coriaceous, dark green and shining above, pe 4 
and strongly veined beneath ; petioles purplish. Eiaa 0) 1876. 
R. oleifolius (Olive-leaved). A synonym of R, californicus. 
R. robustus (strong). fe green, small. May. fr. black, globose, 
oh ga —* y ovate-lanceolate, convex, 7in. to 8in. 
3 . » CO} 9 . è ” - 
A Saf Akaa ee, riaceous, dark green. h (E 1879. 
R. utilis (useful). A synonym of R. davuricus. f 
RHAPHIDOPHORA (from rhaphidos, a needle, 
and phero, to bear ; alluding to the needle-like hairs 
which abound in the intercellular spaces in all parts 
of the plants). ORD. ` Aroidee 
(Araceæ). 
spathe thick, boat-shaped, includin i 
; 3 g the spadix, at first 
oblong and convolute, afterwards opening, — rostrate, 
described below are those best * 
compost of rich loam and own to gardeners. A 
— propensities may be 
> sphere i i 4 
P: —— —— * effected by — eke es 
inserted in san oa z ttings, 
with bottom heat, “nA peat, under a hand glass, 
R. decursiva —— f., spathe yellowish, pale on the 
— d thick 72°" than the petiole; spadix greyish- 
gre n, long an thick. 7. oblong, unequally pinnatisect as far as 
the midrib ; — on adult leaves, fifteen or more on each 
» sub-eq: A ; petioles one-third shorter than the 
k 
