CHAP. XXXV. RHAMNA‘CEE. RHA’MNUS. 529 
deep sandy or peaty soil, and to supply it with abundance of moisture in the 
growing season. The foliage has a neat appearance. The flowers are small, 
and of a greenish yellow colour; and, in America, they are succeeded by 
oblong violet-coloured berries. It is propagated by cuttings of the root, 
or of the branches, or by layers. Plants are in the garden of the London 
Horticultural Society, and in some nurseries, Price, in London, 2s. 6d. 
each; and at New York, 1 dollar. 
App. i. Other Species of Berchemia. 
B. flavéscens Brongn., the Zizyphus flavéscens of Wallich , is a Nepal climber, not yet introduced. 
B. lineata Dec., Rhamnus lineatus Lin., is a green-house shrub, introduced in 1804 from China. It 
grows to the height of 8ft. B. Loureiriana Dec., the Rhamnus lineatus of Lam., but not of Lin- 
nzus, is a trailing shrub, a native of Cochin-China, among hedges and bushes, not yet introduced, 
but, in all probability, half-hardy or hardy. 
Genus IV. 
lela. 
RHA’MNUS Lam. Tue Bucktuorn. Lin. Syst. Pentandria Mono- 
gynia. 
Identification. Lam. Dict., 4. p. 461.; Lam. Ill, t.128.; Gert. Fruct., 2. p. 106.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 23. ; 
Don’s Mill., 2. p 29; Brongn. Mem Rham., p. 53. 
Synonymes. Nerprun, Fy. ; Wegdorn, Ger. ; the Ram, or Hart’s, Thorne, Gerard. ; Box Thorn. 
Derivation. From the Celtic word, ram, signifying a tuft of branches; which the Greeks have 
changed to rhamnos, and the Latins to ramus. 
Description, §c. Deciduous, or evergreen shrubs, one or two of them 
with the habit of low trees, and some of them sub-procumbent, or procum- 
bent; and all of them, except the latter, distinguished by an upright stiff 
mode of growth, and numerous strong thorns in their wild state; whence the 
name of ram, or buck, thorn. Many of the sorts set down in books as species 
are, doubtless, only varieties; but, till the whole are brought together, and 
cultivated in one garden, this cannot be determined. The flowers in all the 
species are inconspicuous; but the R. Alatérnus and its varieties are most 
valuable evergreen shrubs, and several of the other species are ornamental, 
both from their foliage and their fruit; the latter of which is also useful in 
dyeing. R. hybridus, R. alpinus, R. catharticus, Rk. Frangula, R. saxatilis, R. 
alnifolius, and #. latifolius are species procurable in the nurseries, and well 
deserving of cultivation. They are all easily propagated by seeds or layers, 
and most of them by cuttings; and they will all grow in any soil that is dry. 
They all vary much in magnitude by culture, in common with most plants 
which, in a wild state, grow in arid soils. 
§ i. Marcorélla Neck. 
Synonymes. Rhamnus and Alatérnus of Tourn. 
Sect. Char. Flowers usually dicecious, and 5-cleft. Fruit a berry, with 3 
seeds, or, from abortion, 2 seeds. Seeds deeply furrowed, with the raphe 
in the bottom of the furrow. Leaves usually permanent; coriaceous, and 
glabrous. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 23.) 
A. Alatérnus Tourn. Flowers racemose, 5-cleft. Evergreen Shrubs. 
* ], R. ALatTe’RNus L. The Alaternus. 
Identification. Lin. Spec., 281.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 23.; Don’s Mill., 2. p. 30. 
Synonymes. Alatérnus Phillyrea Mill. Dict., No. 1. 
Derivation. From Altérnus,a generic name, adopted from Dioscorides, designating the alternate 
position of the leaves. 
. Engravings. Mill. Dict., t, 16. f. 1.; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 42. t. 14.; and ourjfig. 197. 
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