138 



EHAMNACEJE. 





for more than a few days. Mungo Park, Dr. Shaw, and 



other travellers, 

 found the tree 

 in abundance in 

 many of the sandy 

 parts of Arabia ; 

 and the latter 

 states that the 

 fruit, called ndbk, 

 is regularly ex- 

 posed for sale 

 in the markets 

 of Barbary. Z. 

 spina - Christi, 

 and Paliurus a- 

 culedtus, ^prickly 

 shrubs, common 

 in the East, are 

 severally believed 

 by many persons 

 to have furnished 

 our Blessed Sa- 

 viour's crown of 

 thorns. Only two 

 plants of this tribe 

 are indigenous to 

 Britain, and be- 

 long to the genus 

 Rhamnus ; their 

 berries are me- 

 dicinal, but too 

 violent in their 

 effects to be used 

 with safety. 

 1. KHAMNUS (Buckthorn). Calyx vase-like, 4 5 



cleft ; petals 4 5 (sometimes 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.) 



RHAMNUS CATHARTICUS (Common Buckthorn}. 



