Rliamnus. RHAMNACE^. 407 



-J- -»- Leaves deciduous, never pungent : fruit becoming nearly black ; cocci at most tardily 

 dehiscent. 



++ Petals present : flowers mostly 4-merous. 



= Long shoots ending in spines : leaves subopposite. 

 R. cathIrtica, L. Becoming a small rough-barked tree with glabrous mottled twigs : leaves 

 broadly elliptical to subovate, somewhat acute at base, often blunt-pointed, creuulate or 

 serrulate, more or less pubescent on the veins beneath (some of the veins running to the 

 apex), 1 to 2 inches long, on slender petioles: flowers appearing shortly after the leaves, 

 mostly solitary in the lower axils : pedicels glabrous, 3 or 4 lines long : carpels 3 or 4 : 

 groove of seed deep and narrow. — Spec. i. 193; Brongn. Me'm. Rhamn. 76, t. 2, f . 4 ; Torr. 

 & Gray, Fl. i. 261 ; Nutt. Silv. ii. 53; Millspaugh, Med. PI. i. t. 41 ; Trelease,' 1. c.'365.— 

 A hedge plant, escaping somewhat in the East, said to be abundant in Virginia, Canhy. 

 (Introd. from Old World.) 



= = Not spiuose : leaves 4-ranked in interrupted decussate pairs, or on leaders uniformly 

 distributed. 



R. lanceolata, Pursh. Tall shrub : the gray branchlets puberulent or glabrate : leaves 

 lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, rounded or acute at base, from rounded becoming blunt-pointed 

 when grown, minutely incurved-serrulate, finely pinnately veined, from golden-puberulent 

 becoming mostly glabrous at least above, 1 to 3 inches long, short-petioled : flowers appear- 

 ing with the leaves, 2 or 3 in each of the lower axils : pedicels at length glabrescent, 1 to 

 3 lines long : carpels 2 : seed with a broad open groove. — -Fl. i; 166 ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 

 261 ; Gray, Gen. 111. ii. 180, t. 168; Trelease, 1. c. 365; Greene, Erythea, iv. 85. R. Shortii, 

 Nutt. Jour. Acad. Philad. vii. 91. R. purvifoUus, Torr. & Gray, 1. c. 262. R. Smithii, Greene, 

 Pittonia, iii. 17, & Erythea, iv. 134. — Pennsylvania to Colorado, Central Texas, and 

 Alabama. 



++ ++ Apetalous : flowers 5-merous : seeds scarcely grooved : twigs not spinose. 



R. alnif olia, L'Her. Low shrub : the gray or mottled branches mostly puberulent : leaves 

 elliptical, obtuse to mostly acuminate, more coarsely incurved-serrate or biserrate, with 

 coarse upcurved veins, soon glabrate except for some veins, 1 to mostly 4 inches long : 

 flowers appearing nearly with the leaves, solitary or 2 or 3 together in the lower axils : 

 pedicels glabrate, I to 4 lines long : carpels 3 : seed flat, with flat thin cotyledons. — Sert. 

 Angl. 5 ; Guimp. Otto & Hayne, Abbild. Holzart. 77, t. 61 ; Hook. Fl. Bor.-Am. i. 122, t. 42 ; 

 Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 262 ; Gray, Gen, 111. ii. 180 ; Brew. & Wats. Bot. Calif, i. 100 ; Trelease' 

 1. c. 366 ; Greene, Erythea, iv. 86. R.fraiujuloides, Michx. Fl. i. 153 ; Pursh, Fl. i. 166. Gir- 

 tanneria ainifolia, & G. franguloides, Eaf. Sylv. Tellur. 28. — Swamps, Maine to Brit. 

 Columbia, south to New Jersey in the East, and in the West to Wyoming, Oregon, and tlie 

 mountains of Northern California. 



* * Flowers mostly perfect, appearing after the leaves, most of the umbels pedunculate : 

 fruit becoming nearly black ; cocci at most tardily dehiscent ; seeds notched at base, not 

 grooved, with lateral rhaphe ; cotyledons thick and fleshy : winter buds naked, hairy : 

 leaves alternate. — § Frangula. 



R. Caroliniana, Walt. Tall shrub or small tree with more or less puberulent gray or 

 reddish often mottled twigs: leaves oblong-elliptical, mostly acute or acuminate, minutely 

 revolute, entire to remotely and obscurely low-serrate or crenulate, coarsely pinnately 

 veined and sometimes with conspicuous transverse connecting veinlets, puberulent below or 

 glabrescent, 2 to 5 inches long, firm, sometimes glossy, short-petioled, deciduous : peduncle 

 1 to 4 lines long, not exceeding the petioles ; pedicels 2 or 3 lines long, both usually hairy : 

 flowers 5-merous : carpels 3. — Car. 101 ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 262 ; Nutt. Sylv. ii. 50, t. 59 : 

 Trelease, 1. c. 366 ; Sargent, Silv. ii. 35, t. 61 ; Greene, Erythea, iv. 135. Frangula fragilis, 

 Raf. Fl. Ludov. 97. F. Caroliniana, Gray, Gen. 111. ii. 178, t. 167. Sarcomphalus Caro- 

 linianus, Raf . Sylv. Tellur. 29. — Missouri to North Carolina, Florida, and Texas. 



R. FrAngula, L. Small tree : leaves broadly elliptical to mostly obovate, frequently acumi- 

 nate, usually cuneately narrowed at base, entire or very minutely denticulate, about 2 inches 

 long, thin, very slender-petioled : pedicels usually inserted directly on the stem : otherwise 

 resembling the preceding species. — Spec. i. 193; Greene, Erythea, iv. 136; Pollard, Bot. 



