Common Buckthorn

Rhamnaceae

LIFE FORM: Tree

NATIVITY: Eurasia

VEGETATIVE CHARACTERISTICS:

10 to 20 feet tall; simple, glossy dark-green leaves alternately arranged.

FLOWERS:

Inconspicuous green flowers in spring.

FRUIT/DISPERSAL AGENTS:

Small, black fruits produced in abundance in the fall; dispersed by birds; sprouts readily from base.

ECOLOGICAL PREFERENCE:

Minimally maintained public parks and open space; woodlands that develop on abandoned open space; freshwater wetlands, ponds and streams.

ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTION:

Drought tolerance on compacted soils; food and/or habitat for wildlife; erosion control on slopes.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:

Widely planted in the past; seldom cultivated today; bark used in tradional medicine as a laxative and to induce vomiting. Included by Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides in his five volume herbal, De Materia Medica, which was written in the first century AD and remained in active use into the 1600s. Invasive species in minimally managed habitats.