BUCKTHORN TRIBE 171 



breakfast of the majority of the people in many parts of Ludamar. A wine 

 is also expressed from it, which has, by some writers, been thought to be the 

 Nepenthes of Homer. 



Buckthorn (Ehdmnvs). — Calyx cup-like, 4 — 5-cleft ; petals 4 — 5, some- 

 times wanting ; stamens 4 — 5, inserted with the petals into the throat of the 

 calyx ; berry 2 — 4-celled. Name from the Greek rhamnos, a branch. 



Buckthorn (Ehdmnus). 



1. Common Buckthorn (B. cathdrticus). — Branches with terminal 

 thorns ; flowers 4-cleft ; stamens and pistils on separate plants ; leaves egg- 

 shaped, sharply serrated ; berry 4-seeded. Plant perennial. This Buckthorn 

 is a spreading shrub in woods, hedges, and thickets, where it is not un- 

 common. It is very densely branched, thus well meriting its name. 

 Professor Burnett remarks of this : — " Rhamnus is taken from the Greek 

 rhamnos ; ramus, rame, and the obsolete reim, being fancied to be the descen- 

 dants of an old word ram, a branch ; and Rheims, which is but a slight 

 variation of reim, bears two branches intertwined as the arms of the town." 

 The French call the Buckthorn Le Nerprun, and its German name, Der 

 Kreuzdorn, refers to its thorny nature. This shrub is from six to ten feet in 

 height, and its leaves are glossy and of dark green hue, strongly marked 

 with from four to six lateral veins. The flowers, which appear in May, are 

 small and green, and grow in dense clusters ; they are succeeded by purple 

 berries. These berries have very powerful properties, and were formerly 

 much used medicinally, but are not now considered a safe remedy. 



The berries, when thus employed, were made into a syrup with spices, 

 but their use produced an intolerable thirst. They are still used by dyers, 

 and in making colours for artists. Their juice, before ripening, is of the 

 colour of saffron, and these fruits are sold in that state under the name of 

 French berries ; and those of another species of Buckthorn {Rhamnus clusii) 

 are called by the druggist Avignon berries. The juice of the berries of our 

 common Buckthorn, in their ripened condition, thickened with gum-arabic 

 and other ingredients, forms the Vert de vessie, or sap green, used by painters, 

 and often, also, for staining maps and papers ; but if the berries are gathered 

 very late in the season, their juice is of purple coloui\ The bark affords a_ 

 good yellow dye. When this thorny shrub is in full berry, it is a very pretty 

 object. 



2. Alder 'Buckthorn (E. frdngida). — Branches thornless; flowers 5-cleft, 

 all perfect; leaves entire, smooth; berry 2-seeded. Plant perennial. The 

 leaves without serratures, and the branches without thorns, enable us at once 

 to distinguish this from the last species. It grows in woods and thickets, 

 bearing its inconspicuous green blossoms in May. The foliage is not very 

 abundant ; it is dark green, glossy, and strongly veined ; the stem is slender, 

 and of purplish-brown hue, and the deep purple berries are about as large as 

 currants. Its medicinal properties are similar to those of the Common Buck- 

 thorn, and like that, its bark affords a good dye. A very fine yellow colour 

 may, indeed, be procured in greater or less degree from all the species of 

 Ehamnus, some of the shrubs of which are natives of the southern countries 



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