CHAP. XXXV. 



/iHAMNA CE7E. RHA MNUS. 



533 



a 7. R. infecto^rius L. The staining Buckthorn, or Avignon Be, 



/;//. 



Identification. Lin. Mant, 49. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 24. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 31. 



Synonymes. TZhamnus Lycium Scop. Cam. ed. 2. n. 260.; dwarf, or yellow-berried, Buckthorn 

 Nerprun des Teinturiers, Graine d'Avignon, Nerprun teignant, Fr. ; Farbender Wegdom, Ger. 

 Engravings. Ard. Mem., 78. t. 14. ; and our jig. 200. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, serrulated, 

 smoothish. Flowers dioecious, bearing petals in 

 both sexes. (Don's Mill., ii. p. 31.) A deciduous, 

 sub-procumbent shrub ; a native of the south of 

 Europe, in rocky places ; common about Avignon, 

 and the Vaucluse ; whence the name Avignon 

 berry. Introduced in 1G83. The root fixes itself 

 so firmly in the fissures of the rocks, that the 

 plant can scarcely be pulled up. The stem divides 

 immediately into branches, that are very much sub- 

 divided, and form a very close head, the shoots having numerous spines, 

 both terminating and lateral. The flowers are numerous, and the berries 

 3-celled, and black when ripe. In England, the berries are very seldom 

 produced. According to the first edition of Du Hamel, the berries of this 

 species were gathered green, and used for producing a yellow colour by 

 dyers and painters. Miller says that this is a mistake, and that the Avignon 

 berries alluded to by Du Hamel are those of the narrow-leaved alaternus, 

 one of the most common shrubs in the south of France. In the Noaveau 

 Du Hamel, this assertion of Miller's is noticed, together with one of Hal- 

 ler's, who says that the Avignon berries are gathered from the R. saxatilis. 

 The writer remarks that the berries are now very little used, and that, 

 as all the three species abound in the south of France, and the berries 

 of all of them dye yellow, the Avignon berries were probably gathered 

 from all, or any, of them indiscriminately. The berries are used for dyeing 

 leather yellow; and the Turkey leather, or yellow morocco, is generally 

 supposed to be coloured by them. There are plants of this species in the 

 arboretums of Messrs. Loddiges and the London Horticultural Society. 

 The latter had, in 1834, attained the height of 6 ft., forming a very hand- 

 some bush. 



201 



-* 8. R saxa'tilis L. The Stone Buckthorn. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 1671. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p 24. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 31. 

 Synonymes. K. longifblius Mill. Diet. ; Stein Wegdorn, Ge?\ 

 Engravings. Jacq. Austr., t. 43. ; and our fig. 201. 



S])ec. Char., $c. Procumbent, or erectish. 

 Leaves ovate-lanceolate, serrulatedjSmooth- 

 ish. Flowers dioecious, female ones des- 

 titute of petals. {Don's Mill., ii. p. 31.) 

 A procumbent deciduous shrub, native of 

 the south of Europe, among rocks, in Aus- 

 tria, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece. In- 

 troduced in 1752. The flowers are of a 

 greenish yellow, and appear in June and 

 July. The berries are black, containing 

 three whitish seeds, each enclosed in a dry 

 whitish membrane, separating into two parts with elastic force. The 

 berries are supposed to be used for the same purposes as those of R. in- 

 fectorius, and R. tinctorius, for which they are often sold. Neither this 

 nor the preceding species can be considered as ornamental in itself; 

 but both are well adapted for planting among rocks, either natural or 

 artificial. In garden scenery, where natural rocks occur, and where it 

 is desirable that they should be retained, the only legitimate mode of ren- 

 dering them gardenesque is, by clothing them, or varying them with showy 

 flowering plants, ligneous or herbaceous. 



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