Common Buckthorn

Rhamnus cathartica

Common Buckthorn: Full Tree - Click for larger image

Family: Rhamnaceae
Once a European tree or shrub, now naturalized
Reaches height around 20’

Twigs & Fruiting Structures

Distribution and Uses

Leaves

Opposite (or nearly opposite)
Fine-toothed, hairless
Elliptical (main veins sweep towards leaf tip); veins depressed from leaf’s surface
1.5”-2” in length

Buckthorn: Leaves - Click for larger image

Buckthorn: Fruit - Click for larger image

Twigs & Fruiting Structures

Twigs are dark and unlined; end in sharp spines
Several scales on buds
Spur branches often present; generally 3 bundle scars; sometimes scars fuse into one
Small and greenish flowers clustered at leaf angles and spurs; appear May-June
Dark and fleshy fruit with several seeds

Bark

Yellow inner bark; grey to dark brown outer bark; lenticels

Photo by Jill Clapp-Hansen

Distribution & Uses

Widely distributed in North America; found as far north as Nova Scotia and North Dakota, as far south as Kansas and North Carolina
Often found in thickets and hedgerows
In 1800s, cultivated for hedges and wildlife habitat

Top

Buckthorn: Bark - Click for larger image

Home

Search

Glossary

Help

Home

Search

Glossary

Help