Rhamnus crocea
Rhamnus ilicifolia
hollyleaf buckthorn, redberry, redberry buckthorn, spiny redberry
evergreen buckthorn, holly leaf redberry, redberry
reddish to red-purple or orange-brown; glabrous.
gray, stiff, glabrous or densely and softly hirtellous.
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.
persistent, alternate;
petiole 2–10 mm;
blade usually dull green, sometimes reddish brown, abaxially, glossy to dull green adaxially, broadly elliptic to oblong, orbiculate, or ovate, 2–4.5 cm, distinctly coriaceous, base cuneate to nearly truncate, margins spinulose to spinose-dentate, apex rounded or obtuse to truncate or emarginate, both surfaces glabrous;
secondary veins 5–7 pairs, all diverging at nearly same angle.
fascicles or flowers solitary.
fascicles or flowers solitary.
2–3 mm.
2–4 mm.
red, globose, 5–8 mm;
stones 2.
red, globose, 4–6(–8) mm;
stones 2.
4(–5).
4.
0.
0.
= 24.
Rhamnus crocea
Rhamnus ilicifolia
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.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
