52 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



bright red fruit ripens in October and November, 

 and when ripe opens at the corners, but the seeds 

 do not fall out. The seeds are oval, and enclosed 

 by a dark yellow shining membrane. The wood was 

 formerly much used for spindles, whence the name 

 of the tree. It is tough and delicately veined, and 

 is used for a variety of small useful and ornamental 

 articles ; it also makes very good drawing-charcoal. 

 The plant has a very unpleasant smell, and is more 

 or less poisonous. 



Order XXIV. Rhamnacece (i genus) 

 The only British species of this Order are the 

 Buckthorn (Rhatnmis catharticd) and the Alder- 

 Buckthorn or Black Alder {Rhamnus Franguld). 

 They are common shrubs, with broad leaves, and 

 small green flowers, with 4 or 5 petals, inserted 

 opposite to an equal number of stamens on 

 a disk at the bottom of the calyx, which has 

 4 or 5 teeth, and is attached to the ovary. The 

 fruit is a berry containing 2 or 4 hard stones. 

 The bark and the fruit of the British and of various 

 foreign species are powerful purgatives, and are 



also used to produce green and yellow dye-stuffs. 

 The fruit of some foreign trees of this Order, 

 however, is edible, and of considerable importance ; 

 among others, that of the Jujube Tree {Zizyphus 

 Jujuba) and other allied Mediterranean and Oriental 

 species. 



The Buckthorn has strong thorns at the ends 

 of the branches ; the greenish flowers grow in 

 clusters, and have 4 petals and stamens. The 

 fruit is black, about as large as a pea, and contains 

 4 cells. The leaves are elliptical, rounded or 

 heart-shaped at the base, and regularly serrated at 

 the edges. The medical properties of the plant 

 resemble those of Rhubarb. 



The Alder-Buckthorn is without thorns ; the 

 leaves are thick and glossy, with the margins entire, 

 and the greenish white flowers have 5 petals and 

 stamens, and grow two or three together, not in 

 clusters. The fruit contains only 2 seeds. It is 

 red when unripe, but afterwards turns black. 



Many insects feed on these shrubs, the most 

 interesting being the smooth green caterpillars 

 of the Brimstone Butterfly {Gonepteryx rhamni). 



