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Rhamnus frangula L.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Rhamnus frangula' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhamnus/rhamnus-frangula/). Accessed 2024-04-19.

Genus

Common Names

  • Alder Buckthorn

Synonyms

  • Frangula alnus Mill.

Glossary

bisexual
See hermaphrodite.
calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.

References

There are no active references in this article.

Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Rhamnus frangula' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/rhamnus/rhamnus-frangula/). Accessed 2024-04-19.

Rhamnus frangula

Developing fruit on Frangula alnus (syn. Rhamnus frangula) at the Bluebell Arboretum and Nursery, where this species is highly rated. 3rd August 2022. Image Tom Christian.

A deciduous shrub or a small tree up to 15 or 18 ft high; young shoots downy. Leaves oval or obovate, 1 to 3 in. long, scarcely half as wide; wedge-shaped or rounded at the base, often with a short abrupt point, not toothed; dark glossy green and glabrous above, paler and often somewhat downy beneath; veins parallel, usually in eight or nine pairs; stalk 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. long. Flowers clustered two to ten together in the leaf-axils of the young shoots, bisexual, the parts in fives; calyx and flower-stalk glabrous. Fruits at first changing from green to red, then to dark purple, 1⁄4 in. across, roundish, two-seeded.

R. frangula is widely distributed in western Eurasia and is a native of Britain, though absent from Scotland and the north-west. It is a rather handsome small fruiting tree with foliage of a cheerful green. Under the name of “dogwood” its wood is used (as charcoal) in the manufacture of the finest gunpowders. The bark has purgative properties.

Rhamnus frangula

Frangula alnus (syn. Rhamnus frangula) is seldom planted in rich garden soils where it can grow to significant tree size. Thenford House, Northamptonshire, UK; May 2009. Image Owen Johnson.

Rhamnus frangula

A decidedly arborescent Frangula alnus (syn. Rhamnus frangula) at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; 8th August 2022. This example was grown from seed gathered in Turkey (TDI 45). Image Tom Christian.

Rhamnus frangula

Frangula alnus (syn. Rhamnus frangula) from TDI 45 at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; 8th August 2022. Image Tom Christian.

Rhamnus frangula

Autumn colour of a planted Frangula alnus (syn. Rhamnus frangula) in East Sussex, UK; 1st November 2011. Image Owen Johnson.

Rhamnus frangula

Terminal flowers on Frangula alnus (syn. Rhamnus frangula) from TDI 45 at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; 8th August 2022. Image Tom Christian.

'Asplenifolia'

A remarkable form with leaves as long as in the type, but only from {1/12} to {1/6} in. wide as a rule.

Rhamnus frangula 'Asplenifolia'

Only the naked, furry winter buds are likely to reveal the specific allegiance of remarkable Alder Buckthorn sport 'Asplenifolia'. Fullers Mill Garden, Suffolk; July 2014. Image Owen Johnson.

f. angustifolia (Loud.) Schelle

This has narrowly oblong or oblanceolate leaves, from {1/4} to 1 in. wide, the margins uneven or jagged.

R latifolia L'Hécrit.

Synonyms
Frangula azorica Tutin

This species, a native of Madeira and the Azores, has leaves up to 5 in. long, 3 in. wide, with ten to sixteen pairs of parallel veins and a stalk 1{1/4} in. long. Akin to R. frangula, it differs not only in its larger, more numerously veined leaves, but also in haying a downy flower-stalk and calyx, the former up to {5/8} in. long. Fruits nearly {1/2} in. across, red, then black. Introduced in 1778; now very rare, but worth growing for its handsome foliage. Bot. Mag., t. 2663.

var. latifolia Dipp

Found in the Caucasian region, this has larger, broader leaves than the type, up to 3{1/2} in. long and 2 in. wide.

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