R H A 



R II A 



Aucuha of Thunberg ; and GhJJbma of Schreber, which is 

 Aublet's Fntomita. 



RHAMNOATZ, in Geography, a town of Sweden, in 

 Weltmannland ; 20 miles N. of Stroemfholm. 



RHAMNOIDES, in Botany, a name given by Toume- 

 fort, and others, to a genus of plants, called by Linnseus 

 hippophae ; which fee. 



RHAMNUS, in Ancient Geography, a borough of At- 

 tica, belonging to the Ajantide tribe, 60 ftadia from Mara- 

 thon, in a northerly direction from the iEgean fea, in a 

 place where the land formed a fmall peninflila or Cherfonefus. 

 The houfes were on the fea-coaft ; and upon an eminence 

 was the tempb of Nemefis, in which was a line ftatue of the 

 goddefs, made by Phidias, of marble, which the Perlians 

 had brought from Paros for the purpofe of forming a 

 trophy, and which had been found in their camp after the 

 battle of Mara'hon : the pedeilal was adorned with tour 

 ballo relievoi, reprefenting different fubjecb of Grecian hif- 

 tory. Leda is alfo exhibited prefenting Helena to her mo- 

 ther Nemefis. See Nemesis. 



RHAMNUS, in Botany, fo called by the ancient Romans, 

 and by the Greeks pjtuo;; words derived, according to De 

 Theis, from the Celtic Ram, a head or tuft of branches, 

 which is the origin of the Latin ramus, Sec. and of the 

 French Rame, ramier, Sec. — Linn. Gen. 105. Schreb. 142. 

 addend. 823. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 1. 1092. Mart. Mill. Did. 

 v. 4. Sm. Fl. Brit. 261. Prodr. Fl. Grxc. Sibth. v. 1. 

 157. Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 2. 14. Juff. 380. Lamarck 

 Illuftr. t. 128. Gxrtn. t. 106. — Clafs and order, Pentan- 

 dria Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Dumofiz, Linn. Rhamni, Juff. 

 Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, urceolate ; 

 its limb in five fpreading, acute, equal, coloured fegments ; 

 the bafe permanent. Cor. Petals five, minute, between the 

 fegments of the calyx, oppofite to the ftamens, converging. 

 Slam. Filaments as many as the petals, awl-fhaped ; anthers 

 fmall. Pi/}. Germen roundifh ; ilyle thread-fhaped, equal 

 to .the ltamens ; ftigma in various divifions. Peric. Berry 

 roundifh, naked, divided into fewer cells than there are feg- 

 ments of the calyx. Seeds folitary, roundiih, gibbous on 

 one fide, compreffed on the other. 



Obf. We follow .Tuffieu and Schreber (in his addenda) 

 in our denomination of the different parts of the flower, in- 

 ltead of taking the calyx for a corolla, with Linnxus. The 

 genera of Paliurus and Zizirm's, feparated from the 

 original Linnxan Rhamnus, will be found in their proper 

 places. Frangula and Alaternus of Tournefort have no jult 

 pretenfions to be removed from the prefent genus. 



Eff. Ch. Calyx urceolate. Petals five, oppofite to the 

 ftamens. Berry fuperior. 



We (hall briefly define the fpecies which authors have re- 

 tained in Rhamnus, adding fome new ones. The whole are 

 fhrubby, fometimes climbing. Leaves fimple, undivided, 

 ftalked, veiny ; moltly alternate. Flowers lateral, fmall, 

 green or yellowilh ; fometimes with only four fegments, 

 petals and ilamens, and in that cafe often dioecious, or poly- 

 gamous, as in the firft feclion. 



Section 1 . Branches armed with terminal thorns. 

 I. R. catharticus. Purging Buckthorn. Linn. Sp. Pi. 

 179. Willd. n. 1. Fl. Brit. n. 1. Engl. Bot. t. 1629. 

 Woodv. Med. Bot. t. 1 14. Fl. Dan. t. K50. (R- folutivus ; 

 Ger. Em. 1337, withClufms's figure of the following fpecies. 

 Spina infc&oria ; Matth. Valgr. v. 1. 143.) — Flowers four- 

 cleft, polygamous. Leaves ovate. Stem erect. Berry with 

 four feeds. — Native of woods and hedges throughout Europe, 

 efpecially in moid fituations. This is the white-thorn of the 

 modern Greeks. A rigid bufhy fhruh, nearly Imooth in 

 every part ; ite branches terminating 111 ltrong thorns. I.tavtt 

 Vol. XXX. 



ferrated, with feveral lateral ribs. Plovers from the fame 

 buds as the leaves, yellowifh-green, moftly, but not alta- 

 gether, dioecious. Stigma four-cleft. Berry round, black, 

 very purgative, when unripe affording a yellow dye. 



2. R. irifedorius. Turkey-berry Buckthorn, or Graine 

 d'Avignon. Linn. Mant. 49. Willd. n. 2. Ait. n. 2. 

 (R. catharticus minor ; Arduin. Mem. 78. t. 14. R. folu- 

 tivus minor; Ger. Em. 1337. Spina infectoria pumila 

 prima ; Cluf. Hilt. v. 1. 11 1.) — Flowers four-cleft, dioecious. 

 Stem procumbent. — Native of the fouth of Europe. Fre- 

 quent in rough ftony places in Greece, and rightly con- 

 fidered by Dr. Sibthorp as the Aokiw, Lycium, of Diofco- 

 rides. The unripe berries are much ufed for dyeing, and 

 imported in great quantities into England. They are what 

 give the yellow colour to Turkey leather, or yellow morocco. 

 This fhrub is very nearly related to the firll fpecies, but 

 grows procumbent, not erect, and the leaves are fmaller and 

 narrower. Gerard obferves, that the fegments of the calyx 

 are but the length of the tube ; not longer, as in catharticus ; 

 and that the Jligmas are two, reflexed. Fl. Gallopr. 462. 

 The Jlipulas are linear ; not awl-fhaped, as in the former ; 

 but we dare not rely on that circumltance, without further 

 examination. 



3. R. lycioides. Box -thorn Rhamnus. Linn. Sp. PI. 279. 

 Willd. n. 3. Ait. n. 3. Cavan. Ic. v. 2. 66. t. 182. (R. 

 tertius, forte niger Theophrafti ; Cluf. Hilt. v. 1. no. 

 R. tertius Clufii ; Ger. Em. 1334.) — Leaves nearly linear, 

 obtufe, entire. — Native of Spain ; frequent on the lime- 

 (tone hills of Valentia. Cavan. Differs widely from both 

 the former in the narrow and entire leaves, tapering down 

 into their /lender footftalks. 



4. R. Erythroxylon. Red-wood Buckthorn. Pall. Roff. 

 v. 1. p. 2. 26. t. 62, and t. 100. f. 8. Willd. 11. 4 — Leaves 

 linear-lanceolate, ferrated, rather acute. — Native of dry 

 rocky places in Siberia. — The Itrongly ferrated and acute 

 leaves dillinguilh this from the laft. A variety with fmaller, 

 more finely ferrated, leaves, is Pallas's R. lycioides, t. 63. 



5. R. oleoides. Olive-leaved Buckthorn. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 279. Willd. n. 5. Ait. n. 4. ( R. fecundus ; Cluf. Hift. 

 v. 1. no. Ger. Em. 1334.) — Leaves obovate, entire; re- 

 ticulated with veins beneath. — Native of Spain, Alflroemer; 

 of Barbary, Desfontaines ; of the fouthern part of Greece, 

 and the ifland of Milo, Sibthorp. The fhorter obovate 

 leaves, copioufly reticulated with veins, efpecially at the 

 back, differ materially from thofe of lycioides. The fruit 

 moreover has a much fhorter (talk, though it is not fo per- 

 fectly feflile as in Clufius's figure, which neverthelefs we 

 cannot helitate to refer to this fpecies. 



6. R. prunifolius. Plum-leaved Buckthorn. Sm. Prodr. 

 Fl. Grace. Sibth. n. 549. ( R. creticus, amygdali folio mi- 

 nori ; Tourn. Cor. 41.) — Stem procumbent. Flowers flat- 

 tilh, four-cleft, dioecious. Leaves obovate, obtufe, crenate, 

 naked. — Found on the h'gher mountains of Crete. — Like 

 the lall in habit, but diflinguiflied by its crenate, or fome- 

 what ferrated, leaves. Stem depreffed, or procumbent, with 

 many entangled branches. The female flowers have occa- 

 fional rudiments of ftamens. Style cloven half way down. 

 We find no figures referrihle to this or the following. 



7. R. crtnulalus. Teneriffe Buckthorn. Ait. n. 5. Willd. 

 n. 6. — Stem erect. Flowers three or four-cleft, dioecious. 

 Leaves elliptic-oblong, bluntly ferrated, permanent. — Na- 

 tive of the Canary iflands ; Maffon. Brought in 1778 to 

 Kew, where it bloffoms in the greenhoufe in March. A 

 (tout, erect, much-branched Jhrub. The leaves are finely 

 reticulated beneath. 



8. R.faxatilis. Rock Buckthorn. Jacq. Auflr. t. 53. 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 1671. Willd. n. 7. Ait. n. 6. ( R. folu. 



T tfvui 



