xxn. JSHAMNACETE: BHAMNUS. 



171 



green ; feather-nerved ; the stipules never converted into prickles. Flowers 

 axillary, aggregate, often unisexual. Fruit not eatable, generally black, 

 rarely red or yellow. 



Deciduous or evergreen shrubs, with the tips of their branches often be- 

 coming spines. One or two species have the habit of low trees, and some of 

 them are sub-procumbent or procumbent ; all of them, except the latter, being 

 distinguished by an upright stiff mode of growth, and numerous strong thorns 

 in their wild state ; whence the name of ram, or buck, thorn. The flowers 

 in all the species are inconspicuous ; but R. ^laternus and its varieties are 

 most valuable evergreen shrubs, and several of the other species are orna- 

 mental, both from their foliage and their fruit ; the latter of which is also 

 useful in dyeing. All the species are 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. Marcorella Neck. 



Synonymes. .Rhamnus and ^laternus of Tourn. 



Sect. Char. Flowers usually dioecious, 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. ALATE'RNUS Tourn. Flowers racemose, 5-cleft. Evergreen Shrubs. 

 1. R. JLATE'RNUS L. The Alaternus. 



Identification. Lin. Spec., 281. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 23. ; Don's 



Mill., 2. p. 30. 



Synonymes. Alaternus Phill^rea Mill. Diet. No. 1.; Alaterna, Ital. 

 Derivation. From alternus, a generic name adopted from Diog- 



corides, designating the alternate position of the leaves. 

 Engravings. Mill. Diet., t. 16. f. 1. ; N. Du Ham., 3. p. 42. t. 14. ; 



and our fig. 245. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Leaves ovate-elliptical, or lance- 

 olate, coriaceous, quite smooth, serrated. Flowers 

 dioecious, disposed in short racemes. (Don's Mill.) 

 An evergreen shrub. South of Europe and 

 North of Africa. Height 10ft. to 20ft. Intro- 

 duced in 1629. Flowers green, without any corolla ; 

 April to June. Berry black ; ripe in October. 

 Varieties. 



ft R. A. 2 balearica Hort. Par. The J2hamnus rotundifolius of Du- 

 mont. Leaves roundish. We take this as the first variety, assuming 

 the species to be what is called R. 

 A. latifolia, which is the commonest 

 variety in British nurseries. 

 R. A. 3 kispdnica Hort. Par. (Our fig. 

 246.) Leaves ovate, a little toothed. 

 R. A. 4 angustifolia. R. Clusiz Willd. 

 (Mill. Icon., t. 16. fig. 2. ; and our 

 fig. 247.) Leaves long and narrow. 

 This variety is so distinct, that it is by 

 many authors considered as a species. 

 It is of remarkably rapid growth. 

 There are two subvarieties of it, the 

 gold-striped, and the silver-striped ; 

 both of remarkably free growth. 



R. A. 5foliis maculdtis. Leaves blotched with yellow. 

 . A. anutif<*iia. R. A. 6 folOs afoeis. Leaves edged with yellow. 



245. flhamnus Xlatirnu* 



246. R. A. hlsp&nicn. 



