XXIV. RHAMNACEiE 
91 
veins 5-7 pairs. Flowers in small, axillary or terminal clusters. 
Drupe ovoid, J in., purple-blue. 
Temperate Himalaya, Sikkim to the Indus, 4000-10,000 ft , usually on 
rocks ; May- July. 
3. RHAMNUS. The classical name of some spinous shrub, 
perhaps a Bhammts or Lycium . — Most warm and temperate 
regions except Australia. 
Shrubs or small trees, usually erect, spinous or unarmed. 
Leaves alternate, nearly opposite in B. virgatus, stalked, toothed, 
feather-veined, veins nearly parallel. Flowers sometimes poly- 
gamous, on short, unequal stalks in axillary clusters or panicles, 
rarely solitary. Calyx 4- or 5-parted, tube cup-shaped. Petals 4- 
5 or none. Stamens 4-5. Disk thin, lining the calyx-tube. Ovary 
at the bottom of the calyx-tube, quite free, 3-4-celled, narrowed 
upwards into a short, 2-4-branched style. Drupe small, berry- 
like, obovoid or globose, black when ripe, containing 2-4 stones. 
Spinous. Leaves nearly or quite opposite . . . . 1. B. virgatus. 
Unarmed. Leaves alternate. 
Erect shrubs or trees. Leaves 2^-5 in. 
Flower-clusters axillary. Petals none . . . 2. B. purpureus. 
Flower-clusters in axillary panicles. Petals 5 . . 3. B. triqueter. 
A procumbent shrub. Leaves f-1^ in. 4. B. procumbens. 
1. Rhamnus virgatus, Boxb . ; FI. Br. Ind. i. 639, under B. 
dahuricus. A spinous shrub or small tree, nearly or quite glabrous. 
Leaves opposite or nearly so, sometimes in clusters or crowded 
near the end of short, thick, opposite branches, lanceolate or ovate, 
1-4 in., often long-pointed, sometimes crenate. Flowers crowded 
in the axils of the clustered leaves or at the base of branches. 
Drupe obovoid, J in. long. 
Simla, Mahasu, common; April-June. — Hilly districts throughout India, 
ascending to 9000 ft. — N. China, E. Siberia, Manchuria. 
Closely allied to the common Buckthorn of Britain ( B . catharticus) . 
2. Rhamnus purpureus, Edgiv . ; FI. Br. Ind. i. 639. An 
unarmed shrub, glabrous or nearly so; young branches purple. 
Leaves alternate, rarely nearly opposite, ovate -lanceolate, 2^-5 in., 
often abruptly pointed. Flowers in small, axillary clusters. Petals 
none. Drupe obovoid, J in. long. 
Simla, Jako, Narkunda ; May, June. — W. Himalaya, 5000-10,000 ft. 
3. Rhamnus triqueter, Wall . ; FI. Br. Ind. i. 639. An unarmed, 
pubescent shrub or small tree. Leaves alternate, oblong-ovate, 
acute, 3-5 in. Flowers in small clusters on long branches of 
axillary panicles. Drupe ovoid, J in. 
Valleys below Simla ; May- August. — W. Himalaya, 3000-5000 ft. 
