Rhamnus cathartica | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Rosales |
Family: | Rhamnaceae |
Genus: | Rhamnus |
Species: | R. cathartica |
Binomial name | |
Rhamnus cathartica | |
Synonyms [2] | |
Cervispina cathartica(L.) Moench |
Rhamnus cathartica, the European buckthorn, [3] 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. [4] 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 [5] [6] [7] and in Ontario, Canada. [8]
Rhamnus cathartica is a deciduous, dioecious shrub or small tree growing up to 10 metres (33 ft) tall, with grey-brown bark and often thorny branches. The leaves are elliptic to oval, 25–90 mm (1–3+1⁄2 in) long and 12–35 mm (1⁄2–1+3⁄8 in) broad; they are green, turning yellow in autumn, and are arranged somewhat variably in opposite to subopposite pairs or alternately. The flowers are yellowish-green, with four petals; they are dioecious and insect pollinated. The fruit is a globose black drupe, 6–10 mm (1⁄4–3⁄8 in) across, and contains two to four seeds.
In addition to the kindred Frangula alnus , Rhamnus cathartica may be visually confused with a plant of another family, Cornus sanguinea . [9]
The species was originally named by Carl Linnaeus as Rhamnus catharticus, but this spelling was corrected to cathartica as the genus name Rhamnus is treated as being of feminine gender. [10]
The seeds and leaves are mildly poisonous for humans and most other animals, but are readily eaten by birds, who disperse the seeds in their droppings. [11] [12] The toxins cause stomach cramps and laxative effects that may function in seed dispersal. The chemical compounds responsible for this laxative effect are anthraquinone [13] and emodin. The species name cathartica and the common name purging buckthorn refer to this effect.
In 1994, R. cathartica was implicated in the outbreak of an idiopathic neurological disease in horses,[ clarification needed ] although no causative agent was officially identified. In trials where rodents were fed the leaves and stems of R. cathartica, glycogen metabolism became abnormal and glycogen deposits formed in the cytoplasm of liver cells. Abnormalities in glycogen metabolism lead to diabetes in humans. [14]
Rhamnus cathartica is shade-tolerant, moderately fast-growing and short-lived. It is a food plant of the brimstone butterfly, Gonepteryx rhamni . The sulphur-yellow males are indicative of the presence of this species or of its alternative host, Frangula alnus .[ citation needed ]
Rhamnus cathartica is the alternate host for the rust disease of cereals caused by Puccinia coronata . Crown rust fungus results in leaf damage and reductions in photosynthesis during its transit in this species. [15] Rhamnus cathartica is also the primary overwintering host in North America for a significant agricultural pest of soybeans, the soybean aphid. [16]
Secondary compounds, particularly emodin, have been found in the fruit, leaves, and bark of the plant, and may protect it from insects, herbivores and pathogens. [17] The emodin present in R. cathartica fruit may prevent early consumption, as it is found most in unripe fruits, which allows seeds to reach maturity before being dispersed. Birds and mice significantly avoid eating unripe fruits, and if forced to ingest emodin or unripe fruit, the animals regurgitate the meal or produce loose, watery stools. [17] Rhamnus cathartica is a constitutive isoprene emitter [15]
Allelopathic effects of exudates from R. cathartica leaf litter, roots, bark, leaves and fruit may reduce germination of other plant species in the soil. Soils in buckthorn-dominated areas are higher in nitrogen and carbon than normal soils, which speeds up decomposition rates of leaf litter. [18] This can result in bare patches of soil being formed and R. cathartica performs well in such disturbed habitats, so this may be adaptive for the setting of its seed. [17]
The species is naturalised and invasive in parts of North America. [19] [17] [20] Rhamnus cathartica has a competitive advantage over native trees and shrubs in North America because of root competition, the shade it produces, [21] and it leafs out before native species. [22] Of the annual carbon gain in R. cathartica, 27–35% comes from photosynthesis occurring before the leaves of other plants emerge. [13] Soil in woodlands dominated by R. cathartica was higher in nitrogen, pH and water content than soil in woodlands relatively free of R. cathartica, [18] [23] probably because R. cathartica has high levels of nitrogen in its leaves [24] and these leaves decompose rapidly.[ citation needed ]
Rhamnus cathartica is also associated with invasive European earthworms ( Lumbricus spp.) in the northern Midwest of North America. [25] Removing R. cathartica led to a decrease of around 50% in the biomass of invasive earthworms. [26]
Soils enriched by extra nitrogen from decayed buckthorn leaves and additional earthworm activity have a negative impact on North American forest ecosystems: "Invasive earthworms, which need rich litter, break [buckthorn leaves] down rapidly, destroying beneficial fungi and exposing bare soils in the process. These soils provide ideal conditions for buckthorn germination and seedling growth but many native trees and shrubs need the beneficial fungi and will not reproduce without it." [24]
Common buckthorn can be found in most northern states of the United States and it is particularly prevalent in the Great Lakes states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. A current map of its distribution can be found at Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System (EDDmapS). [27] This species is largely bird-dispersed, but only a subset of bird species that eat the fruit are competent dispersers. [28] It is winter hardy in USDA zones: 3 to 8. [29] It is a prohibited species in a few US states; Minnesota lists it as a Restricted noxious weed making it illegal to import, sell, or transport the plant, [30] Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, also restrict or ban the plant, and Vermont lists it as a Class B noxious weed. [31]
Rhamnus cathartica is difficult to control in its invasive range, because it sprouts vigorously and repeatedly from the root collar following cutting, girdling or burning. [32] Herbicide application to newly cut stumps is a popular and effective control method, but seeds stay viable in the soil for several years before sprouting, so repeated treatments and long-term monitoring of infested areas is required. [33] Triclopyr and picloram and their derivatives have been found to be effective chemical means of control. Roundup can be used but is less reliable. [13] An application of these chemicals in early winter reduces the risk of negatively affecting non-target species, as most have gone dormant by this time. It is also easier to spot infestations at this time of the year, as the leaves of R. catharticus stay out an average of 58 days longer than native plants. [13]
Mechanical control methods such as pulling and chopping of plants are more environmentally friendly, but also very time-consuming. Plants with stems less than half an inch in diameter or less than a metre (3') tall can easily be pulled, but pulling risks disturbing the roots of adjacent, native plants and harming them as well. [33] Propane weed-torches may also be used to kill seedlings, which will generally not resprout if burned in spring or early summer. [13]
The bark and fruit of Rhamnus cathartica were used as a purgative in traditional medicine, [34] but is generally no longer used for this purpose on account of the fruit's violent action and potentially dangerous effects on the body. [35] It also appeared to be routinely used as a purgative in some monastic settings, as was clear from the latrine pits of the Benedictine Abbey at St Albans excavated in the 1920s, where great numbers of buckthorn seeds were found mixed up with the fragments of cloth used by the monks as lavatory paper [36]
Alders are trees that compose the genus Alnus in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species extending into Central America, as well as the northern and southern Andes.
Alnus glutinosa, the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. It thrives in wet locations where its association with the bacterium Frankia alni enables it to grow in poor quality soils. It is a medium-sized, short-lived tree growing to a height of up to 30 metres (98 feet). It has short-stalked rounded leaves and separate male and female flowers in the form of catkins. The small, rounded fruits are cone-like and the seeds are dispersed by wind and water.
Rhamnus is a genus of about 140 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.
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.
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.
Frangula purshiana is a species of plant in the family Rhamnaceae. It is native to western North America from southern British Columbia south to central California, and eastward to northwestern Montana.
Emodin (6-methyl-1,3,8-trihydroxyanthraquinone) is a chemical compound, of the anthraquinone family, that can be isolated from rhubarb, buckthorn, and Japanese knotweed. Emodin is particularly abundant in the roots of the Chinese rhubarb, knotweed and knotgrass as well as Hawaii ‘au‘auko‘i cassia seeds or coffee weed. It is specifically isolated from Rheum palmatum L. It is also produced by many species of fungi, including members of the genera Aspergillus, Pyrenochaeta, and Pestalotiopsis, inter alia. The common name is derived from Rheum emodi, a taxonomic synonym of Rheum australe, and synonyms include emodol, frangula emodin, rheum emodin, 3-methyl-1,6,8-trihydroxyanthraquinone, Schüttgelb (Schuttgelb), and Persian Berry Lake.
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 the Caucasus Mountains; in the northwest of its range, it is rare and scattered. It is also introduced and naturalised in eastern North America.
Frangula caroliniana, commonly called the Carolina buckthorn, 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. There is also an isolated population in the State of Nuevo León in northeastern Mexico. It is found in a wide variety of habitats, including barrens, forests, and limestone bluffs.
Bucculatrix frangutella is a moth of the family Bucculatricidae. It was described by Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1783. It is found in Europe.
Invasive species of earthworms from the suborder Lumbricina have been expanding their range in North America. Earthworms are considered one of the most abundant macroinvertebrates in the soil of ecosystems in temperate and tropical climates. There are around 3,000 species known worldwide. They are considered keystone species in their native habitats of Asia and Europe because, as detritivores, they alter many different variables of their ecosystem. Their introduction to North America has had marked effects on the nutrient cycles and soil profiles in temperate forests. These earthworms increase the cycling and leaching of nutrients by breaking up decaying organic matter and spreading it into the soil. This thins out the soil rapidly because earthworms do not require a mate to reproduce, allowing them to spread fast. Since plants native to these northern forests are evolutionarily adapted to the presence of thick layers of decaying organic matter, the introduction of worms can lead to a loss of biodiversity as young plants face less nutrient-rich conditions. Some species of trees and other plants may be incapable of surviving such changes in available nutrients. This change in the plant diversity in turn affects other organisms and often leads to increased invasions of other exotic species as well as overall forest decline. They are considered one of the most invasive animals in the Midwestern United States along with feral swine.
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.
Rhamnus crocea subsp. pirifolia, synonym Rhamnus pirifolia, is a subspecies of tree and shrub in the buckthorn family known by the common name island redberry. It is an island endemic which is known only from the Channel Islands of California and Guadalupe Island off Baja California. Its habitat consists of coastal sage scrub and chaparral.
Frangula rubra is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family known by the common names red buckthorn and Sierra coffeeberry.
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.
Rhamnus lycioides, the black hawthorn, European buckthorn, or Mediterranean buckthorn, is a shrub up to about 1 metre tall in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae. It is found in the Mediterranean region, in southern Europe and northern Africa. Its scientific name lycioides refers to its resemblance to the botanical genus Lycium.
Rhamnus alaternus is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, known by the common names Italian buckthorn or Mediterranean buckthorn. It is a hardy medium-sized evergreen shrub with fragrant flowers.
Rhamnus davurica is a species of flowering plant in the buckthorn family known by the common name Dahurian buckthorn. It is native to China, Korea, Mongolia, eastern Siberia, and Japan. It is present in North America as an introduced species.
Earthworms are invasive species throughout the world. Of a total of about 6,000 species of earthworm, about 120 species are widely distributed around the globe. These are the peregrine or cosmopolitan earthworms. Some of these are invasive species in many regions.
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