458 



RH A 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



RH A 



23. Rhamnus Glandulosus ; Madeira Buckthorn. Flow- 

 ers racemed ; leaves ovate, bluntly serrate, smooth, glandu- 

 lar at the base. It has the habit of an Ilex or Phillyrea. 

 Native of Madeira and the Canary Islands. 



24. Rhamnus Ellipticus; Oval-leaved Buckthorn. Flowers 

 hermaphrodite, subtrigynous, axillary, subumbelled ; leaves 

 elliptic, acute, quite entire, somewhat villose underneath. 

 Flowers greenish-white. Native of the West Indies. 



25. Rhamnus Prinoides ; Pnnos-leaved Buckthorn. Flow- 

 ers polygamous ; styles subtriple ; leaves ovate, serrate. 

 Native of the Cape. 



26. Rhamnus Mystacinus; Wiry Buckthorn. Flowers her- 

 maphrodite, in axillary umbels; stigma triple; leaves cordate; 

 branches tendril-bearing; stem shrubby, round, ten feet high. 

 It flowers in November. Native of Abyssinia. 



27. Rhamnus Alnifolius ; Alder-leaved Buckthorn. Flowers 

 hermaphrodite ; leaves oval, acuminate, serrate, netted un- 

 derneath. Native of North America. 



28. Rhamnus Sphserospermus ; Round-berried Buckthorn. 

 Flowers hermaphrodite, in racemelets ; berries roundish, three- 

 celled, pellucid ; leaves oblong, serrate, smooth. Trunk ten 

 or fifteen feet high, with a smooth bark. Native of the most 

 temperate parts of Jamaica, in mountain coppices ; flowering 

 in August, and ripening the berries in October. 



29. Rhamnus Hybridus ; Mule Buckthorn. Flowers 

 androgynous ; leaves oblong, acuminate, scarcely perennial. 

 L'Heritier obtained this spurious plant half a century since 

 from the seeds of the nineteenth species. He observed the 

 mother, which was absolutely a female plant, and separated 

 from males, every year: and he asserts, that the thirty-first 

 species was certainly the father. He adds, that seeds sown 

 abundantly in some provinces of France, constantly produced 

 this spurious plant without ever varying. It has something 

 from both parents ; as, the herb of the mother ; the leaves 

 between both ; but approaches the father in substance, and 

 is almost perennial. 



30. Rhamnus Lineatus. Flowers hermaphrodite ; leaves 

 ovate, marked with lines, repand, netted underneath; pedun- 

 cles one-flowered, axillary ; stem erect. Osbeck says, that 

 this species often grows to the height of a man, and is re- 

 markable for its small beautiful leaves, of a yellow green colour 

 beneath, with red veins. Native of China and Ceylon. 



31. Rhamnus Alaternus; Common Alaternus. Flowers 

 difficous, in axillary, somewhat compound, bracteated clus- 

 ters; stigma triple; leaves ovate, serrate, coriaceous, smooth; 

 stem erect. A hardy evergreen shrub in our gardens, flowering 

 in the spring. The leaves are about an inch long, of a shin- 

 ing yellowish-green, and of a thick rigid texture. Flowers 

 copious, yellowish; berries dark purple, with two or three 

 seeds. Native of the south of Europe. Mr. Miller reckons 

 four sorts of Alaternus. There is one variety with variegated 

 leaves, commonly called Blotched Phillyrea by the nursery- 

 men; and another, the leaves of which are striped with white 

 and with yellow, called Silver and Gold-striped Alaternus. 

 The Alaternus was mucn more in request formerly than at 

 present; having been planted against walls in court-yards 

 to cover them, as also to form evergreen hedges in gardens ; 

 but for which purpose it is very improper, for the branches 

 shoot vigorously, and, being pliant, are frequently dis- 

 placed by winds in winter; and when much snowfalls in still 

 weather, the weight of it often breaks the branches ; these 

 hedges also require clipping three times in a season, to keep 

 them in order ; which is not only expensive, but occasions a 

 great litter in the garden. It is still occasionally used in 

 towns for concealing walls, but chiefly to make a variety in 

 ornamental plantations. Clusius reports, that the Portuguese 



fishermen dye their nets red with a decoction of the bark ; 

 and that dyers there use small pieces of the wood to strike a 

 blackish-blue colour. The fresh branches or young shoots, 

 with the leaves, will dye wool a fine yellow. The honey - 

 breathing blossoms, says Evelyn, afford an early and marvel- 

 lous relief to the bees. He also informs us, that he first 

 brought this plant into general use and reputation in this 

 kingdom. The flowers appear in April. It is easily propa- 

 gated by laying the branches down, as is practised for many 

 other trees. The best time for this is in autumn, and, if pro- 

 perly performed, the layers will have made good roots in a 

 year; they may then be cut off from the old stock, and plant- 

 ed either into the nursery, or into the places where they are 

 intended to remain. When they are planted in a nursery, 

 they should not remain there longer than a year or two ; for 

 as they shoot their roots to a great distance on every side, 

 so they cannot be removed after two or three years' growth 

 without cutting off great part of them, which is very hurtful 

 to the plants, and will greatly retard their growth, even if they 

 survive their removal. They may be transplanted either in 

 the autumn or the spring, but in dry lands the autumn plant- 

 ing is best, whereas in moist ground the spring is to be pre- 

 ferred. The plain sorts may also be propagated by sowing 

 their berries, which they produce in great plenty ; but the birds 

 devour them so greedily as soon as they begin to ripen, that 

 they at that time require to be particularly guarded. The 

 plants which arise from seeds always grow more erect than 

 those which are propagated by layers, and are therefore fitter 

 for large plantations, as they may be trained up to stems, 

 and formed more like trees ; whereas the layers are apt to ex- 

 tend their lower branches, which retards their upright growth, 

 and renders them more like shrubs. They will grow to the 

 height of eighteen or twenty feet, if their upright shoots be 

 encouraged ; but to keep their heads from being broken t>y 

 wind or snow, those branches which shoot irregularly should 

 be shortened. The varieties of this species thrive best in a 

 dry, gravelly, or sandy soil, for in rich ground they are often 

 injured by frost when the winters are severe, but in rooky 

 dry land they are seldom injured, and if in very hard frosts 

 their leaves are killed, the branches will remain unhurt, and 

 put out new leaves in the spring. 



32. Rhamnus Carpinifolius ; Hornbeam-leaved Buckthorn. 

 Leaves oblong, lanceolate, equally toothed, acute; fruits ses- 

 sile. Trunk straight, very much branched, and forming a kind 

 of bush, with the branches extending frequently to twenty 

 paces, and to a considerable height. The wood is white and 

 brittle, the bark brown and entire, covered with a vhitish 

 grey skin. Pallas observes, that the genus of this tree is un- 

 certain, the flowers not having been observed, nor the fruit in 

 a ripe state, by any botanist. Some suppose it to be the same 

 with Ulmus Nemoralis. Native of Siberia. 



33. Rhamnus Carolinianus. Leaves ovate-oblong, some- 

 white entire, glabrous ; umbels peduncled ; flowers hermaph- 

 rodite, tetrandrous, monogynous ; stigma bilobed, fruits glo- 

 bose, black. Found in the woods and swamps of Virginia 

 and Carolina, and flowers from May to July. 



34. Rhamnus Lanceolatus. Plant arboresent; leaves lan- 

 ceolate, serrulate, acute, pubescent; berries black. Grows in 

 Tennessee on the side of hills. 



35. Rhamnus Minutiflorus. Leaves subopposite, oval, 

 serrate; flowers very small, dioecous, alternately sessile; 

 style trifid ; berry with three seeds. Grows on the sea-coast 

 of Carolina and Florida. 



*** Prickly. 



36. Rhamnus Paliuris; Common Christ's 1 horn. Prickle* 

 in pairs, the lower refk-xed; flowers three-styled; fruits cori- 



