Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Rhamnus crocea

hollyleaf buckthorn, redberry, redberry buckthorn, spiny redberry
Habit Shrubs, 1.2–2(–4) m, usually armed with thorns.
Branchlets

reddish to red-purple or orange-brown; glabrous.
Leaves

persistent, alternate;

petiole 2–6 mm;

blade usually dull green abaxially, shiny dark green adaxially, elliptic to obovate or ovate, 0.7–2 cm, distinctly coriaceous, base cuneate to truncate, margins coarsely serrate, spinulose-serrulate, or entire, apex obtuse to emarginate, both surfaces glabrous;

secondary veins 5–7 pairs, all diverging at nearly same angle.
Inflorescences

fascicles or flowers solitary.
Pedicels

2–3 mm.
Drupes

red, globose, 5–8 mm;

stones 2.
Sepals

4(–5).
Petals

0.

Rhamnus crocea
Phenology Flowering (Jan–)Mar–May.
Habitat Dry washes and canyons, coastal and inland dunes, alluvial fans, gravel flood plains, disturbed sandy flats, brushy slopes, steep granitic slopes, woodlands, coastal sage scrub, chaparral.
Elevation 50–1200 m. (200–3900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Rhamnus crocea and closely related species were considered conspecific by C. B. Wolf (1938), who treated those in the flora area as subspp. crocea, ilicifolia, pilosa, and pirifolia; he also recognized subsp. insula (Kellogg) C. B. Wolf from Mexico (Baja California). The taxa are distinctive, but intermediates exist. Wolf identified R. crocea/ilicifolia intermediates from Marin County to the California/Mexico boundary, and R. ilicifolia/insula, R. crocea/pilosa, and R. ilicifolia/pilosa intermediates in southern California, especially in San Diego County.

Arizona plants (Pima County, especially in the Ajo Mountains) identified as Rhamnus crocea (for example, K. Christie 2006) appear to be populational variants of the single species present there, R. ilicifolia (R. Felger, pers. comm.). In California, where the two are sympatric over a relatively broad region, R. crocea is distinct from R. ilicifolia in usually bearing thorns and in having smaller leaves with less spinulose margins.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 47.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Rhamnus
Sibling taxa
R. alaternus, R. alnifolia, R. arguta, R. cathartica, R. davurica, R. ilicifolia, R. japonica, R. lanceolata, R. pilosa, R. pirifolia, R. serrata, R. smithii, R. utilis
Name authority Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 261. (1838) — (as croceus)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers