62 



CALYCIFLOR,^ 



Only two plants of this tribe are indigenous to Britain, and 

 belong to the genus Rhamnus ; their berries are medicinal, but 



too violent in their effects to be used 

 with safety. 



I. Rhamnus (Buckthorn). — Calyx 

 vase-Hke, 4 to 5-cleft ; petals 4-5 (some- 

 times wanting) ; stamens 4-5, inserted 

 with the petals into the throat of Ihe 

 calyx ; berry 2 t® 4-celled. (Name from 

 the Greek, rhamnos, a branch.) 



R 



I. Rhamnus (Bnckthorn) 



. catharticiis (Common Buck- 



thorn). — Branches terminating in thorns; 

 flowers 4-cleft, dioecious (stamens and 

 pistils on separcite plants) ; leaves egg- 

 shaped, sharply serrated ; berry 4- 

 seeded. A spreading shrub with dense 

 clusters of small green flowers in the 

 axils of the leaves. Berries black. 

 These are powerfully cathartic. If 

 gathered before lliey are ripe they yield 

 a yellow dye ; when ripe they form, if 



mixed with gum arable and lime-water, the 



green colour known under the name of 



Bladder-green. Woods and thickets, not 



uncommon. — Fl. May. Shrub. 



2. R. Fraitgiila (Alder Buckthorn). — 

 Branches without thorns ; flmeers 5-cleft ; 

 stamens and pistils on the same flower ;= 

 leaves entire, smooth ; berry 2-seeded. A 

 rather slender shrub, 6-10 feet high, with 

 s nooth, blackish branches, deep green leaves, 

 a:id small greenish flowers, which are not 

 so densely tufted as in the last. Woods 

 and thickets, commoner than the last. 

 — Fl. May. Shrub. 



Rhamnus Catharticus 

 (Common Buckthorn) 



Rhamnus Frangula [Alder 

 Buckthorn) 



Natural Order XXIII 

 LEGUMINOS/E.— Pea and Bean Tribe 



Calyx 5-cleft, with the odd lobe in front ; petals 5, the upper one 

 called the standard enclosing the other four when in bud ; the two 

 side ones called the wings enclose the two lowest ones of all, which 

 are joined along their lower margin, and form what is called the 



