PI. ex. cal . 
65. RHAMNEiE. 383. Rhamnus. 621 
a. Rhamnus. Branches spinous j stigma 4s-cut ; 
plant dioicous . 
1. Rhamnus catharticus. Purging buckthorn . 
CWyr 4-cut; leaves ovate, toothed; teeth acute; stem 
upright ; branches ending in spines ; plant dioicous. 
Rhamnus catharticus, Raii Syn. 466, 1 ; Lin. S. P. 279. 
Rhamnus solutivus, Ger. em. 1337, 1. 
Rhamnus solutivus, seu Spina infectoria vulgaris. Park. 243. 
W aythorn. Laxative ram. Rhein berry. French berry. Yellow berry . 
Woods and hedges ; shrubby ; May and June. 
Branches stiff, alternate ; leaves in bundles, petioled, rib- 
bed, when young downy ; flowers peduncled, yellowish 
green ; berry black, 4-seeded.— -Juice of the unripe berries 
yellow, used in staining ; of the ripe berries cathartic, but 
griping, made into a syrup, and corrected in some measure 
by ginger and cloves, also boiled down with some alum, 
into a green water-colour, called sap green ; when gathered 
late in autumn, the juice is purple; bark used to dye yel- 
low. 
b. Frangula. Branches without spines ; stigma 2-cut ; 
berry 2- seeded. 
2. Rhamnus alnoides. Alderlike buckthorn. 
Branches spineless ; flowers hermaphrodite ; style 1 ; leaves 
petioled, not cut, bald; berry 2-seeded. 
Frangula seu Alnus nigra baccifera, Raii Syn . 465, 1 j Park 240. 
Alnus nigra, sive Frangula, Ger. em. 1470. 
Rhamnus Frangula, Lin. S. P. 280. 
Black aller tree . Butchers prick tree. Berrybearing alder. 
Wet woods; shrubby; May. 
Stem much branched ; peduncles axillary, 1 -flowered ; 
corolla white; anthers purple; berries dark violet. —Inner 
bark purgative in doses of 2 to 4 drachms in infusion, also 
4yes yellow; wood makes soft charcoal, fit for gunpowder. 
