A deciduous shrub 4 to 10 ft high, of stiff habit; young shoots glabrous. Leaves oval or somewhat ovate, heart-shaped or rounded at the base, shortly tapered at the apex, finely and regularly toothed, 11⁄2 to 51⁄2 in. long, 1 to 32⁄3 in. wide, dark green and glabrous except for minute tufts of hairs in the vein-axils beneath; veins parallel, in from twelve to over twenty pairs; stalks 1⁄4 to 5⁄8 in. long, downy when young on the upper side. Flowers yellowish green, produced in clusters of three to seven from the leaf-axils and joints near the base of the current year’s shoots; petals and stamens four; stalk 1⁄4 in. or less long. Fruits black, 1⁄4 in. across.
Native of S.E. Europe from the Styrian alps south to Greece. It is closely allied to R. alpina (see below) and perhaps not specifically distinct from it. It is also allied to R. imeretina (q.v.), which differs in the leaves being very downy beneath but equally many-veined. R. fallax and R. imeretina are the most handsome-foliaged of the deciduous buckthorns.
R. alpina L. – This species is closely allied to R. fallax, differing in its smaller leaves (up to 23⁄4 in. long) with fewer pairs of veins (up to twelve); also the twigs and bud-scales are downy. It has a more western distribution, from N.W. Italy and Switzerland through S. and Central France to N. Spain.