BUCKTHORN – Rhamnus carthartica: [ 33 & 60 ]
Grows to 10m with grey-brown bark and spiny branches. Leaves are dark green and glossy, turning yellow in autumn. Yellow-green flowers are pollinated by insects which travel between the male and female flowers on different trees. The females develop into purple-black berries which are eaten and dispersed by birds. It is a food plant to the brimstone butterfly and provides nectar to bees and other insects. The wood is rarely used although the fruits and bark can make a yellow dye. The berries have a laxative effect giving it the name purging blackthorn.
Grows to 10m with grey-brown bark and spiny branches. Leaves are dark green and glossy, turning yellow in autumn. Yellow-green flowers are pollinated by insects which travel between the male and female flowers on different trees. The females develop into purple-black berries which are eaten and dispersed by birds. It is a food plant to the brimstone butterfly and provides nectar to bees and other insects. The wood is rarely used although the fruits and bark can make a yellow dye. The berries have a laxative effect giving it the name purging blackthorn.
