RHAMNUS. 



Stamens with ovate 2-celled anthers. Torus thin, lining the tube 

 of the calyx. Ovary free from the calyx, and not immersed in 

 the torus, 2-3-4 -celled. Styles 2-4, more or less connected or 

 distinct. Fruit fleshy, containing 2-4 indehiscent cartilaginous 

 nuts ; one of them occasionally abortive. Shrubs or small 

 trees. Leaves alternate or rarely opposite, stipuled, short- 

 stalked, feather-nerved. W. and A. 



326. R. catharticus Linn. sp. pi 279. Eng. Bot. t. 1629. 

 Woodv. 1. 1 14. DC.prodr. ii. 24. S. and C. t. 119. - Hedges 



and woods throughout Europe. (Buckthorn.) 



Branches alternate, or nearly opposite, spreading, straight, round, 

 smooth, hard, and rigid, each terminating in a strong spine, after the 

 first year. Leaves deciduous, bright green, smooth, ribbed ; the young 

 ones downy : the earlier ones in tufts from the flowering buds ; the 

 rest opposite, on the young branches. Footstalks downy. Stipules 

 linear. Flowers yellowish-green, on the last year's branches, numerous ; 

 the fertile ones with narrow petals, rudiments of stamens, and a deeply 

 4-cleft style ; barren ones with an abortive ovary, and broader petals. 

 Berries globular, blueish-black, nauseous, with 4 cells, and as many 

 seeds ; by which last character they are easily known, by druggists, 

 from the fruit of R. Frangula, which is supposed to be less active. The 

 unripe berries dye yellow. Smith. Fruits violently purgative, but pro- 

 duce colic; they are powerful hydragogue cathartics, 15 or 20 causing 

 abundant evacuation: only given in some kinds of dropsy. The syrup 

 usually prescribed in doses of 1 to 2 ounces. 



327. R. Frangula Linn, sp.pl. 280. E. Bot. t. 250. or Black 

 Alder, a common wild shrub, has emetic fruit. 



328. R. infectorius Linn. mant. 49. DC.prodr. ii. 24. 

 (Clus. hist. i. 111. ic.) Wild places in the South of Europe, 

 among rocks. 



A dwarf shrub, with a tough woody root ; branches much entangled, 

 procumbent. Flowers and leaves all out of the same bud. Leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, short-stalked, smooth ; with very narrow, subulate, deciduous 

 stipules. Flowers small, always unisexual, each on a long slender 

 stalk. Calyx yellowish green, tubular, half 4-cleft. Petals 4, of the 

 same colour, very narrow, half bifid. Fruit black, obovate, 2-3-celled, 

 2-3-seeded. The unripe fruit is dried and sold under the name of 

 French berries, or Graines D' Avignon ; it is used for dying Maroquin 

 leather yellow, and is purgative like R. Frangula. 



329. R. saxatilis Linn. sp. pi. 1671. Jacq. austr. t. 53, a 

 nearly allied species, with more erect branches, or more probably 

 a mere variety, has similar properties ; so have 



330. R. amygdalinus Desf. atl. i. 198. 



331. R. oleoides Linn. sp. 279. 



332. R. buxifolius Poir. diet. iv. 463. 



333. R. pubescens Poir. diet. iv. 464. 



167 M 4 



