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Rhamnus costata Maxim.

Modern name

Rhamnus costata Maxim.

A deciduous shrub, ultimately 15 ft high, of spreading habit; young shoots glabrous, stout. Leaves opposite, ovate-oblong, pointed, tapering below to a narrowly heart-shaped or cuneate base; unevenly and shallowly toothed, 3 to 5 in. long, 114 to 212 in. wide, pale green on both sides, strongly ribbed, ribs about twenty, upper surface wrinkled, and furnished with a few hairs, when quite young; undersurface downy, especially on the ribs; stalk about 18 in. long, downy on the upper side. Flowers green, few or solitary on slender, glabrous stalks, 34 to 114 in. long, produced at the base of the young shoots. Fruits top-shaped, black, 13 in. across, two-seeded.

Native of Japan; introduced in 1900. One of the handsomest of buckthorns in foliage, and belonging to the many-veined group, which includes R. fallax and R. imeritina. From R. fallax it is distinguished by its downy leaves, and from both by the long flower-stalk and strongly wrinkled upper surface of the leaf. It has also a very short leaf-stalk.


Genus

Rhamnus

Other species in the genus