334 RHAMNUS 



There is a rather handsome bush at Kew, 7 ft. high, and 15 ft. in diameter, 

 distinguished by its dense, gnarled branches. 



R. JAPONICA, Maximowicz. 



A deciduous shrub up to 8 or 9 ft. high ; lateral branchlets occasionally 

 spine-tipped or reduced to short spurs with the leaves crowded at the end ; 

 y*oung shoots smooth. Leaves glossy pale green on both sides, obovate, 

 always tapered at the base, broadly pointed or rounded at the apex, finely 

 toothed except sometimes near the base ; I to 3 ins. long, \ to I in. wide ; 

 with three to five pairs of veins converging towards the apex ; stalk ^ to f in. 

 long, more or less downy. Flowers greenish brown, produced in May in dense 

 hemispherical clusters at the end of the short, spur-like branches ; stalks 

 smooth, 4 in. long ; calyx lobes four, triangular ; stamens four. Fruit globose, 

 g- in. diameter. 



Native of Japan ; introduced in 1888. It flowers with great freedom, 

 and the blossoms have a faint pleasant fragrance. . It is distinct in its bright 

 green, uniformly obovate leaves produced on spurs. 



R. LANCEOLATA, Pursh. 



An erect shrub up to 6 or 7 ft. high, the young shoots smooth or slightly 

 downy. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate, or oval, broadly wedge- 

 shaped or rounded at the base, with short, slender or bluntish points, finely 

 toothed ; I to 3 ins. long, \ to if ins. wide ; smooth or slightly downy ; veins 

 parallel in six to nine pairs ; stalk up to \ in. long, mostly downy. Flowers 

 produced in twos or threes in the axils of the young leaves, yeJlowish green ; 

 the parts in fours ; stalks about J in. long. Fruit black, roundish, \ in. 

 diameter, two-seeded. 



Native of the eastern and central United States. This buckthorn 

 flowers with extreme freedom, the short-stalked blossoms being crowded 

 along the young shoots and forming cylindrical clusters. 



R. PUMILA, Linn&us* DWARF BUCKTHORN. 



A low, sometimes procumbent shrub usually only a few inches high, of 

 stunted. habit ; young shoots downy. Leaves variable in outline, sometimes 

 roundish, sometimes narrowly oval, f to 2 ins. long, more or less tapered at the 

 base, mostly finely toothed ; smooth, or with down along the midrib and veins ; 

 veins parallel in from five to eight pairs ; stalk downy, \ to in. long. Flowers 

 pale green, the parts in fours. Fruit globose, blue-black. 



Native of the Alps of Europe ; introduced originally from Mount Baldo, 

 in 1752. It inhabits crevices of rocks, and is of the curious gnarled type 

 common in such places. It has some beauty in fruit, and is best adapted for 

 the rock garden, where it makes a neat and pleasing tuft, although less close 

 and compact than in a wild state. 



R. PURSHIANA, De Candolle. CASCARA SAGRADA. 



A deciduous tree up to 40 or 50 ft. high in a wild state ; young shoots 

 conspicuously downy. Leaves obovate or oval, rounded at the base, with a 

 short, blnntish apex, either minutely toothed or entire ; 2 to 5 ins. long, I to 

 3 ins. wide ; downy beneath and on the veins above, veins parallel, in ten to 

 fifteen pairs ; stalk ^ to f in. long, downy. Flowers in stalked umbels, 



