. ooth, about an inch in length, andfrom half an inch to three-fourths of an inchin width, and of a bright-green colour; but onyoung plants, or in hedges, they are often foundfrom two inches to two inches and a half inlength, and nearly as broad as they are long. The tiowers, which appear in May and June, arc of a yellowish-green are, for the most part, hermaphrodite, clustered when grown wild, butfewer and nearly solitary in a state of cultivation. The berries are of a bluish-black, globular in their form, with four cel
. ooth, about an inch in length, andfrom half an inch to three-fourths of an inchin width, and of a bright-green colour; but onyoung plants, or in hedges, they are often foundfrom two inches to two inches and a half inlength, and nearly as broad as they are long. The tiowers, which appear in May and June, arc of a yellowish-green are, for the most part, hermaphrodite, clustered when grown wild, butfewer and nearly solitary in a state of cultivation. The berries are of a bluish-black, globular in their form, with four cells, and as many seeds, and are ripe inBritain and the northern parts of the United States in October. It often remainson the tree after the leaves have fallen. Geography and History. The Rhamnus catharticus is indigenous to Europeand the north of Asia. In Britain it is found native in the woods, and accordingto Pallas, it is common in the southern parts of .Siberia. It has also becomeindigenous in the vicinity of Boston, in Massachusetts, and near West Point,. 176 RHAMNUS CATHARTICUS. New York, and is cultivated for use and ornament in the various countries ofEurope and of North America. The first cultivated tree of this species in the United States, of which wehave any record, stood in the garden of the venerable Dr. Holyoke, in Salem,Massachusetts. It bore an abundance of fruit, which was long used by him, inhis practice, as a cathartic. On the estate of Mr. E. Hersey Derby, in thattown, there are several buckthorn-trees, from thirty to forty years planted, whichhave attained a height of twelve or fifteen feet, and bear an abundance of berriesevery year. Propagation, Culture, Uses, ^c. The Rhamnus catharticus, in commonwith most plants of its genus, may be easily propagated by seeds, or by cuttingsand layers. It prefers a rich, moist soil, in rather a shady situation; but it willthrive in any place where the current or gooseberry will succeed. It is culti-vated in Europe as a
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbrownedj, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookyear1851
