BUCKTHORN FAMILY 



thorn, is used to give the yellow color to leather. Tur- 

 key morocco is supposed to be dyed by this pigment. 



Rhamnus catJiartica is an excellent hedge plant. It is 

 perfectly hardy, never suckers ; its roots extend but 

 little way, and being fibrous do not interfere with other 

 plants ; is free from insects' attacks ; the foliage is a 

 rich dark green and held late in autumn. 



The Alder Buckthorn, Rhamnus frangirfa, is a hand- 

 some lawn shrub, introduced from Europe, which has 

 sparingly escaped in some localities of the Eastern 

 States. It is well formed, compact, and often ten feet 

 high. The flowers are inconspicuous, but its shining 

 foliage and purple black berries give it a certain dis- 

 tinction. 



NEW JERSEY TEA. RED-ROOT 



Ccanbthns americanus . 



An ancient name of a different plant ; of no significance in 

 its present use. 



A shrub of upright stems one to three feet high, found in dry- 

 open woods. Ranges from Ontario to Florida and from Mani- 

 toba to Texas. Branchlets downy ; root deep red. 



Leaves. — Alternate, simple, two to three inches long, ovate or 

 oblong-ovate, rounded or slightly heart-shaped at base, serrate, 

 acute or acuminate at apex ; three-nerved, ribs and primary 

 veins deeply depressed above, prominent beneath. They come 

 out of the bud involute, clammy, shining, smooth above, densely 

 covered with white hairs beneath. Petiole short, downy. Sti- 

 pules minute, awl-like. 



Flowers. — June, July. Small, white, in little umbel-like 

 groups which form dense panicles or corymbs at the summit of 

 naked flower-branches on leafy shoots of the year ; calyx and 

 slender pedicels white. 



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