Frangula caroliniana

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Frangula caroliniana
Rhamnus caroliniana.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rhamnaceae
Genus: Frangula
Species:
F. caroliniana
Binomial name
Frangula caroliniana
Rhamnus caroliniana map.png
Generalized natural range of Frangula caroliniana
Synonyms [2]
  • Rhamnus carolinianaWalter

Frangula caroliniana, commonly called the Carolina buckthorn, [3] is a deciduous upright shrub or small tree native to the southeastern, south-central, and mid-western parts of the United States, from Texas east to Florida and north as far as Maryland, Ohio, Missouri, and Oklahoma. [4] There is also an isolated population in the State of Nuevo León in northeastern Mexico. [5] It is found in a wide variety of habitats, including barrens, forests, and limestone bluffs. [6]

Contents

Description

Frangula caroliniana is usually around 12 to 15 feet (3.6-4.5 meters) high, but capable of reaching 40 feet (12 meters) in a shaded location. [7] The most striking characteristic of this plant are its shiny, dark green leaves. The flowers are very small and inconspicuous, pale yellow-green, bell-shaped, appearing in leaf axils in late spring after the leaves. The fruit is a small (1/3 inch or 8.3 mm) round drupe; at first red, but later turning black with juicy flesh. It ripens in late summer. [8]

Despite its common name, the Carolina buckthorn is completely thornless.

Ecology and uses

Wildlife such as songbirds eat the fruits, which are reported to have medicinal uses. [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Rhamnus</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae

Rhamnus is a genus of about 110 accepted species of shrubs or small trees, commonly known as buckthorns, in the family Rhamnaceae. Its species range from 1 to 10 m tall and are native mainly in east Asia and North America, but found throughout the temperate and subtropical Northern Hemisphere, and also more locally in the subtropical Southern Hemisphere in parts of Africa and South America. One species, the common buckthorn, is able to flourish as an invasive plant in parts of Canada and the U.S., where it has become naturalized.

<i>Frangula</i> Genus of flowering plants in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae

Frangula is a genus of about 35 species of flowering shrubs or small trees, commonly known as alder buckthorn in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. The common name buckthorn is also used to describe species of the genus Rhamnus in the same family and also sea-buckthorn, Hippophae rhamnoides in the Elaeagnaceae.

<i>Carpinus caroliniana</i> Species of tree

Carpinus caroliniana, the American hornbeam, is a small hardwood tree in the genus Carpinus. American hornbeam is also known as blue-beech, ironwood, musclewood and muscle beech. It is native to eastern North America, from Minnesota and southern Ontario east to Maine, and south to eastern Texas and northern Florida. It also grows in Canada. It occurs naturally in shaded areas with moist soil, particularly near the banks of streams or rivers, and is often a natural constituent understory species of the riverine and maritime forests of eastern temperate North America.

<i>Frangula californica</i> Species of tree

Frangula californica is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family native to western North America. It produces edible fruits and seeds. It is commonly known as California coffeeberry and California buckthorn.

<i>Quercus austrina</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus austrina, the bastard white oak or bluff oak, is an oak species that is endemic to the southeastern United States from Mississippi to the Carolinas, with a few isolated populations in Arkansas.

<i>Rhamnus cathartica</i> species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae

Rhamnus cathartica, the European buckthorn, common buckthorn, purging buckthorn, or just buckthorn, is a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Rhamnaceae. It is native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia, from the central British Isles south to Morocco, and east to Kyrgyzstan. It was introduced to North America as an ornamental shrub in the early 19th century or perhaps before, and is now naturalized in the northern half of the continent, and is classified as an invasive plant in several US states and in Ontario, Canada.

<i>Frangula alnus</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae

Frangula alnus, commonly known as alder buckthorn, glossy buckthorn, or breaking buckthorn, is a tall deciduous shrub in the family Rhamnaceae. Unlike other "buckthorns", alder buckthorn does not have thorns. It is native to Europe, northernmost Africa, and western Asia, from Ireland and Great Britain north to the 68th parallel in Scandinavia, east to central Siberia and Xinjiang in western China, and south to northern Morocco, Turkey, and the Alborz in Iran and Caucasus Mountains; in the northwest of its range, it is rare and scattered. It is also introduced and naturalised in eastern North America.

<i>Cabomba caroliniana</i> Species of aquatic plant

Cabomba caroliniana is an aquatic perennial herbaceous plant native to North and South America.

<i>Malus angustifolia</i> Species of apple tree

Malus angustifolia, or southern crabapple, is a species of crabapple native to the eastern and south-central United States from Florida west to eastern Texas and north to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Missouri.

<i>Quercus minima</i> Species of shrub

Quercus minima, the dwarf live oak or minimal oak, is a North American species of shrubs in the beech family. It is native to the southeastern United States.

<i>Quercus chapmanii</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus chapmanii, commonly referred to as the Chapman oak, is a species of oak that grows in the southeastern United States.

<i>Rhamnus alnifolia</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae

Rhamnus alnifolia is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family known by the common names alderleaf buckthorn, or alder buckthorn. Unlike other "buckthorns", this alder buckthorn does not have thorns. It is native to North America, where it is known mainly from the southern half of Canada and the northern half of the United States and California. It can be found in forested habitat.

<i>Frangula rubra</i> Species of flowering plant

Frangula rubra is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family known by the common names red buckthorn and Sierra coffeeberry.

<i>Frangula betulifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Frangula betulifolia, the birchleaf buckthorn, is a shrub or small tree in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It is native in northern Mexico in the Sierra Madre Occidental cordillera, and mountainous, desert regions of the Southwestern United States of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and far west Texas; besides being found in Sonora, Chihuahua and Durango of the Occidental cordillera, a large species locale occurs to the east in Nuevo León.

<i>Prunus caroliniana</i> Species of tree

Prunus caroliniana, known as the Carolina laurelcherry, Carolina cherry laurel, cherry laurel, or Carolina cherry, is a small evergreen flowering tree native to the lowlands of Southeastern United States, from North Carolina south to Florida and westward to central Texas. The species has also escaped into the wild in a few places in California.

<i>Vaccinium oxycoccos</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium oxycoccos is a species of flowering plant in the heath family. It is known as small cranberry, bog cranberry, swamp cranberry, or, particularly in Britain, just cranberry. It is widespread throughout the cool temperate northern hemisphere, including northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America.

<i>Claytonia caroliniana</i> Species of flowering plant

Claytonia caroliniana, the Carolina springbeauty, is an herbaceous perennial in the family Montiaceae. It was formerly placed in the Portulacaceae. Its native range is eastern and central North America. It is most commonly found in the New England area of the United States but its habitat extends from Ontario and a northern limit in the Cape Anguille Mountains of Newfoundland and south to Alabama. It grows approximately 6 inches tall in forests of the Appalachian Mountains and piedmont

<i>Styrax americanus</i> Species of flowering plant

Styrax americanus, the American snowbell or mock-orange, is a plant species native to the southeastern United States and the Ohio Valley. It has been reported from Texas and Florida to Virginia and Missouri. It generally grows in swamps and on floodplains and in other wet locations.

Quercus margarettae, the sand post oak or dwarf post oak, is a North American species of oak in the beech family. It is native to the southeastern and south-central United States from Virginia to Florida and west as far as Texas and Oklahoma. There are historical reports of the species growing in New York State, but it has not been seen there in years.

References

  1. IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group.; Botanic Gardens Conservation International; et al. (BGCI) (2020). "Frangula caroliniana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2020: e.T152857979A152907018. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T152857979A152907018.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. Tropicos, Rhamnus caroliniana Walter
  3. "Frangula caroliniana". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA . Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  4. Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
  5. "Rhamnus caroliniana Range Map" (PDF). United States Geological Survey . Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  6. Flora of North America Frangula caroliniana
  7. "Rhamnus caroliniana Carolina Buckthorn" (PDF). University of Florida . Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  8. "Fragula caroliniana Fact Sheet (Virginia Tech)". Archived from the original on 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
  9. Little, Elbert L. (1980). The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region. New York: Knopf. p. 594. ISBN   0-394-50760-6.