Rhamnus catharticus L.

Species: Rhamnus catharticus L., Genus: Rhamnus, Family: Rhamnaceae, Group: Angiosperms

(Rhamnus catharticus L.)

-> Genus: Rhamnus -> Family: Rhamnaceae -> Group: Angiosperms

Habitus

most often as a shrub or a lower tree 6 - 7 m tall
crown is spherical to irregular
bark is dark grey to blackish
later, dark grey to blackish, relatively thin bark is formed, which peels off in twisted scales (resembles the bark of bird cherry)

Rhamnus catharticus (Purifying sea buckthorn, Common buckthorn) - bark

Rhamnus catharticus (Purifying sea buckthorn, Common buckthorn) - Devínska Kobyla

Rhamnus catharticus (Purifying sea buckthorn, Common buckthorn) - bork

Buds

buds are arranged obliquely (in two rows) opposite (often spirally shaped)
ovate-pointed, pressed to the twig
covering scales are dark purple to blackish
at the end of the shoot there are usually two buds with a thorn between them

Rhamnus catharticus (Purifying sea buckthorn, Common buckthorn)

Shoots

shoots are relatively thin, at first purple-brown, later light grey
at the end they usually end with a thorn of stem origin
on older branches there are numerous brachyblasts

Leaves (assimilation organs)

the leaves are simple, entire, broadly ovate to elliptical, 5 - 8 x 2.5 - 4 cm large
they are shortly pointed at the end, slightly serrated along the margin
they contain 2 - 4 pairs of second-order apical veins
stalk is 1 - 3 cm long

Rhamnus catharticus (Purifying sea buckthorn, Common buckthorn) - top side

Rhamnus catharticus (Purifying sea buckthorn, Common buckthorn) - underside

Rhamnus catharticus (Purifying sea buckthorn, Common buckthorn) - twig with leaves

Flowers

flowers are unisexual, small, greenish
flowering in May – June
they grow in dense clusters in the leaf axils at the base of this year's branches

Fruits – seeds

the fruit is a black-purple, round, 6 - 10 mm drupe
the flesh is green to purple
it contains four ovoid seeds 6 x 3 mm in size
it ripens in IX – X

Extension

almost in all of Europe
in Slovakia from the lowest elevations to 750 m above the sea level
it grows mainly in open dry habitats, but also on river banks and river terraces (also in floodplain forests)

Rhamnus catharticus (Purifying sea buckthorn, Common buckthorn) - as part of the riparian vegetation of the Váh River (Turany)

Rhamnus catharticus (Purifying sea buckthorn, Common buckthorn) - Bobrovecká lime

Rhamnus catharticus (Purifying sea buckthorn, Common buckthorn) - Bradlo peak, 561 m above the sea level, Bradlo National Park (6/2021)

Ecology

it is a semi-shade to light-loving woody plant, frost-resistant, undemanding to nutrients

Significance

it is cultivated only rarely
the fruits were used in folk medicine as a mild laxative and also as a coloring agent - the juice of the fruits after adding alum (a double salt of sulfuric acid) provides a deep green dye

From history

Rhamnus catharticus (Purifying sea buckthorn, Common buckthorn) - Unsere Waldbäume, Sträucher und Zwergholzgewächse. Heidelberg, Carl Winter`s Universitätsbuchhandlung

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