Frangula alnus |
Frangula obovata |
|
---|---|---|
alder buckthorn, columnar buckthorn, European alder, European alder-buckthorn, fen buckthorn, glossy buckthorn, glossy false buckthorn, tall hedge buckthorn |
pearleaf buckthorn |
|
Habit | Shrubs or small trees, 2–5(–7) m. Stems greenish to brown, sparsely puberulent, glabrescent. | Shrubs, 1–2.5 m. Stems red to brown or gray-brown, glabrous or pubescent. |
Leaves | deciduous; petiole 10–19 mm; blade dull green abaxially, glossy darker green adaxially, broadly elliptic-obovate to broadly elliptic or broadly oblong, 4–7(–11) cm, herbaceous, base cuneate to rounded, margins entire, apex rounded to acute or abruptly short-acuminate, abaxial surface sometimes minutely strigose along midveins, adaxial surface glabrous; secondary veins 6–10 pairs. |
deciduous; petiole 5–14 mm; blade usually equally green on both surfaces, not glaucous, obovate to oblong-obovate or oblong, (4–)5–9 × 3.2–6 cm, 1.2–1.8(–2.5) times longer than wide, subcoriaceous to distinctly coriaceous, base truncate to subcordate, margins serrulate to nearly entire, apex obtuse to truncate or rounded, both surfaces minutely puberulous to hirtellous, glabrescent; secondary veins (5–)6–8(–9) pairs. |
Inflorescences | fascicles, sessile, 1–8-flowered. |
umbels, pedunculate, 2–12-flowered. |
Pedicels | 3–10 mm. |
3–10 mm. |
Drupes | black, globose or slightly elongate, 6–8 mm; stones 2(–3). |
black, globose, 5–8 mm; stones 3. |
Stigmas | 2–3-lobed. |
3-lobed. |
2n | = 20–26. |
|
Frangula alnus |
Frangula obovata |
|
Phenology | Flowering May–Sep. | Flowering Apr–Jun. |
Habitat | Alkaline and acid tamarack, red maple and cedar swamps, peatlands, bogs, fens, disturbed areas, riparian thickets, lakeshores, ditches, fencerows, hedgerows, low woods, beaver meadows. | Hanging gardens, cliff faces, talus, canyon bottoms, seepage below cliffs, stream and creek banks. |
Elevation | 10–400 m. (0–1300 ft.) | 1300–2400 m. (4300–7900 ft.) |
Distribution |
CO; CT; IA; ID; IL; IN; KY; MA; ME; MI; MN; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; TN; VT; WI; WV; WY; MB; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Europe [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Asia (China, Russia), n Africa]
|
AZ; CO; NV; UT |
Discussion | Two horticultural forms of Frangula alnus are widely sold and planted in North America. The cultivar 'Asplenifolia' (F. alnus var. asplenifolia Dippel; fern leaf or cutleaf buckthorn) has linear-oblong leaves with coarsely toothed to incised margins and commonly is grown as a specialty plant. The cultivar 'Columnaris' (tallhedge glossy buckthorn) has a narrow, upright habit and is used in hedging. Both forms were noted by M. H. Brand (http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/r/rhafra/rhafra1.html) to spread invasively by seeds. 'Asplenifolia' has been reported as naturalized in Ontario (A. W. Dugal 1989, 1992), Illinois (A. Branhagen, pers. comm.), and Ohio (M. K. Delong et al. 2005). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Frangula obovata is known from Clark County, Nevada, across northern Arizona and southern Utah to southwestern Colorado; its distribution does not overlap that of F. betulifolia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 12, p. 59. | FNA vol. 12, p. 58. |
Parent taxa | Rhamnaceae > Frangula | Rhamnaceae > Frangula |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Rhamnus frangula | Rhamnus betulifolia var. obovata, F. betulifolia subsp. obovata |
Name authority | Miller: Gard. Dict. ed. 8, Frangula no. 1. (1768) | (Kearney & Peebles) G. L. Nesom & J. O. Sawyer: Phytologia 91: 302. (2009) |
Web links |