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Rhamnus rupestris Scop.

Modern name

Frangula rupestris Schur

Synonyms

Frangula rupestris (Scop.) Schur

A deciduous shrub of low, spreading habit, from 8 to 30 in. high; young shoots covered with fine hairs. Leaves oval, or inclined to oblong, or sometimes orbicular, rounded at the base, pointed or rounded at the apex, 34 to 2 in. long, about half as wide, minutely or not toothed; dull green and glabrous (or with the veins downy) above, greyish beneath, and finely hairy on the midrib, veins, and stalk; veins parallel, in five to eight pairs. Flowers in downy, stalked umbels of three to eight. Fruits at first red, then black, roundish top-shaped, 14 in. wide, three-seeded.

Native of the limestone ranges from N.E. Italy through W. Yugoslavia to Greece, and a characteristic member of the karst vegetation; in cultivation 1752. In habit and leaf it resembles R. pumila, but is distinguished by the more hairy shoots and stalked inflorescences. The latter are sometimes borne on short, lateral, leafy twigs springing from the leaf-axils. It belongs to the sub-genus Frangula.


Genus

Rhamnus

Other species in the genus