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BUCKTHORN

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 733 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BUCKTHORN , known botanically as Rhamnus cathartica (natural See also:

order Rhamnaceae), a much-branched See also:shrub reaching ro ft. in height, with a blackish bark, spinous branchlets, and ovate, sharply-serrated leaves, 1 to 2 in. See also:long, arranged several together at the ends of the shoots. The small See also:green See also:flowers are See also:regular and have the parts in fours; male and See also:female flowers are See also:borne on different See also:plants. The See also:fruit is succulent, See also:black and globose, and contains four stones. The plant is a native of See also:England, occurring in See also:woods and thickets chiefly. on the See also:chalk; it is rare in See also:Ireland and not See also:wild in See also:Scotland. It is native in See also:Europe, See also:north See also:Africa and north See also:Asia, and naturalized in some parts of eastern North See also:America. The fruit has strong purgative properties, and the bark yields a yellow dye. An allied See also:species, Rhamnus Frangula, is also See also:common in England, and is known as See also:berry-bearing or black See also:alder. It is distinguished from buckthorn by the See also:absence of spiny branchlets, its non-serrated leaves, and bisexual flowers with parts in See also:fives. The fruits are purgative and yield a green dye when unripe. The soft porous See also:wood, called black See also:dogwood, is used for See also:gun-See also:powder. Dyes are obtained from fruits and bark of other species of Rhamnus, such as R. infectoria, R. tinctoria and R. davurica—the two latter yielding the See also:China green of See also:commerce. Several varieties of R.

Alaternus, a Mediterranean species, are grown in shrubberies. See also:

Sea-buckthorn is Hippophae rhamnoides, a See also:willow-like shrub, r to 8 ft. in height, with narrow leaves silvery on the under-See also:side, and globose See also:orange-yellow fruits one-third of an See also:inch in See also:diameter. It occurs on sandy seashores from See also:York to See also:Kent and See also:Sussex, but is not common. See also:American buckthorns are: Rhamnus purshiana or Cascara sagrada, of the Pacific See also:coast, producing cascara bark, and R. Caroliniana, the alder-buckthorn.

End of Article: BUCKTHORN

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