26 FAMILIAR TREES 



sepals are generally united into a distinct cup below, 

 the fleshy inner surface of which secretes the honey, 

 whilst the petals and stamens spring from its 

 margin. Another leading characteristic is that the 

 stamens each stand in front of one of the petals, 

 instead of between them, which latter is the case in 

 the Spindle-tree. 



The fruit in most members of the Order is fleshy 

 externally, whilst internally it consists of three, or less 

 commonly two or four, hard one-seeded stones. It is 

 the fleshy portion of the berries of the Buckthorns 

 that yields the various colouring substances which 

 constitute one of the chief economic products of the 

 group ; and fruit, bark, and, to some extent, the whole 

 plant contain bitter, and sometimes astringent, 

 principles often strongly purgative and employed as 

 such medicinally. Thus a Mediterranean species, 

 Rhamnus infector'ius L., is much grown at 

 Kaisaryeh in Asia Minor, the ancient Cffisarsea in 

 Cappadocia, and its unripe fruits are exported from 

 Smyrna under the name of Persian or Yellow Berries. 

 Other species, such as R. saxa'tilis L., from South- 

 Eastern Europe, R. alater'nus L. and R. oleoi'des L., 

 from the Western Mediterranean area, and our 

 British species R. catharticus, yield some of the 

 berries of commerce, those from France, known as 

 Avignon Berries, being considered inferior to the 

 Asiatic. These fruits are used to give a yellow colour 

 to morocco leather. The ripe berries of the British 

 and Asiatic species alike, with the addition of alum 

 or lime-water and gum arabic, form the sap-green or 

 bladder-green of painters. Ripe Buckthorn-berries 



