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Rhamnaceae

 
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Rhamnaceae
 
 
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Rhamnaceae, the Buckthorn family, is a large family of flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s, mostly trees, shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s and some vines.

The family contains 50-60 genera and approximately 870-900 species. The Rhamnaceae have a worldwide distribution, but are more common in the subtropical and tropical regions. The earliest fossil evidence of Rhamnaceae is from the Eocene
Eocene

The Eocene Geologic time scale is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Palaeogene period in the Cenozoic era....
.

The simple leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 can be either alternate and spiraling, or opposite.






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Encyclopedia


Rhamnaceae, the Buckthorn family, is a large family of flowering plant
Flowering plant

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of Embryophytes. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms are the only extant groups of Spermatophyte....
s, mostly trees, shrub
Shrub

A shrub or bush is a horticulture rather than strictly Botany category of woody plant, distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and lower height, usually less than 5-6 m tall....
s and some vines.

The family contains 50-60 genera and approximately 870-900 species. The Rhamnaceae have a worldwide distribution, but are more common in the subtropical and tropical regions. The earliest fossil evidence of Rhamnaceae is from the Eocene
Eocene

The Eocene Geologic time scale is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Palaeogene period in the Cenozoic era....
.

The simple leaves
Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
 can be either alternate and spiraling, or opposite. Stipules are present. These leaves are modified into spines in many genera, in some (e.g. Paliurus spina-christi
Paliurus spina-christi

Paliurus spina-christi, commonly known as Jerusalem Thorn, Garland Thorn, Christ's Thorn, or Crown of Thorns, is a species of Paliurus native to the Mediterranean region and southwest and central Asia, from Morocco and Spain east to Iran and Tajikistan....
 and Colletia
Colletia

Colletia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rhamnaceae, with 15 to 17 species of spiny shrubs. All species of this genus are native to southern South America....
 cruciata) spectacularly so. Colletia stands out by having two axillary buds instead of one, one developing into a thorn, the other one into a shoot.

Ceanothus Flowers
The flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are radially symmetrical. There are 5 (sometimes 4) separate sepals and 5 (sometimes 4 or none) separate petals. The petals may be white, yellowish, greenish, pink or blue, and are small and inconspicuous in most genera, though in some (e.g. Ceanothus) the dense clusters of flowers are conspicuous. The 5 or 4 stamen
Stamen

The stamen is the male organ of a flower. Each stamen generally has a stalk called the filament , and, on top of the filament, an anther , and pollen sacs, called sporangium....
s are isomerous with the petals (i.e. one stamen opposite each petal). The ovary
Ovary (plants)

In the flowering plants, an ovary is a part of the female reproductive organ of the flower or gynoecium. Specifically, it is the part of the carpel which holds the ovule and is located above or below or at the point of connection with the base of the petals and sepals....
 is superior, with 2 or 3 ovule
Ovule

Ovule literally means "small ovum." In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: The integuments forming its outer layer, the nucellus , and the megaspore-derived female gametophyte in its center....
s (or one by abortion).

The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
s are mostly berries, fleshy drupe
Drupe

In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovary....
s or nuts. Some are adapted to wind carriage, but most are dispersed by mammals and birds. Chinese jujube is the fruit of the jujube
Jujube

Ziziphus zizyphus , commonly called Jujube, Red Date , or Chinese Date, is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, used primarily for its fruits....
 tree (Ziziphus zizyphus) and is a major fruit in China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
.

The American genus Ceanothus
Ceanothus

Ceanothus Carolus Linnaeus is a genus of about 50?60 species of shrubs or small trees in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. The genus is confined to North America, the center of its distribution in California, with some species in the eastern United States and southeast Canada, and others extending as far south as Guatemala....
, which has several showy ornamental
Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are typically grown in the flower garden or as house plants. Most commonly they are grown for the display of their flowers. Other common ornamental features include leaves, scent, fruit, Plant stem and bark....
 species, has nitrogen-fixing
Nitrogen fixation

Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen is taken from its relatively inert molecular form in the Earth's atmosphere and converted into nitrogen compounds ....
 root nodule
Root nodule

Root nodules occur on the roots of plants that associate with symbiotic bacterium.Under nitrogen limiting conditions, plants from the pea family Fabaceae form a symbiotic relationship with a host-specific strain of bacteria known as rhizobia....
s.

Economic uses of the Rhamnaceae are chiefly as ornamental plants and as the source of many brilliant green and yellow dye
Dye

A dye can generally be described as a colored substance that has an Chemical affinity to the Wiktionary:substrate to which it is being applied....
s. The wood
Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
 of Rhamnus
Buckthorn

The Buckthorns are a genus of about 100 species of shrubs or small trees from 1-10 m tall , in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. They are native throughout the temperate and subtropical Northern Hemisphere, and also more locally in the subtropical Southern Hemisphere in parts of Africa and South America....
 was also the most favoured species to make charcoal
Charcoal

Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances....
 for use in gunpowder
Gunpowder

Gunpowder, also called black powder, is an explosive mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate, KNO3 that burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot solids and gases which can be used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks....
 before the development of modern propellants.

Genera

  • Tribe Ampelozizipheae
    • Ampelozizyphus
      Ampelozizyphus

      Ampelozizyphus is a genus of plants in the family Rhamnaceae. It includes a single species Ampelozizyphus amazonicus found in Brazil....


  • Tribe Bathiorhamneae
    • Bathiorhamnus


  • Tribe Colletieae
    • Adolphia
      Adolphia

      Adolphia is a genus of shrubs in the Rhamnaceae containing only two species. These are rigid, thorny, flowering bushes. Adolphia californica, the California prickbush or California spineshrub, is native to southern California and northern Mexico....
    • Colletia
      Colletia

      Colletia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rhamnaceae, with 15 to 17 species of spiny shrubs. All species of this genus are native to southern South America....
    • Discaria
      Discaria

      Discaria is a genus of about 12 species of flowering plants in the family Rhamnaceae, native to temperate regions of the Southern Hemisphere, in Australia, New Zealand and South America....
    • Kentrothamnus
    • Retanilla
    • Trevoa
      Trevoa

      Trevoa is a genus of actinorhizal plants; these dicotyledon flora are trees or small shrubs. The genus was first proposed by Miers in 1825, but was not fully described until 1830 by Sir William Jackson Hooker....


  • Tribe Doerpfeldieae
    • Doerpfeldia


  • Tribe Gouanieae
    • Alvimiantha
    • Crumenaria
    • Gouania
      Gouania

      Gouania is a genus of between 50-70 species of flowering plants in the buckthorn Family , Rhamnaceae, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world, including Africa, Madagascar, the Indian Ocean islands, southern Asia, the Americas and Hawaii....
    • Helinus
    • Johnstonia
    • Reissekia


  • Tribe Maesopsideae
    • Maesopsis


  • Tribe Paliurieae
    • Hovenia
      Hovenia

      Hovenia is a small genus of deciduous trees or shrubs in the family Rhamnaceae. They occur naturally from India to Japan. The Japanese Raisin Tree is the most well-known of the group, as it is often planted in gardens outside Asia....
       – Raisin Tree
    • Paliurus
      Paliurus

      Paliurus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rhamnaceae. The eight species are native to warm, dry regions of Eurasia and North Africa from Morocco and Spain east to Japan and Taiwan....
       – Christ's Thorn
    • Ziziphus
      Ziziphus

      Ziziphus is a genus of about 40 species of spiny shrubs and small trees in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, distributed in the warm-temperate and subtropical regions throughout the world....
       – Jujube, Buffalo-thorn


  • Tribe Phyliceae
    • Nesiota†
    • Noltea
    • Phylica
      Phylica

      Phylica is a genus of plant in family Rhamnaceae.Species include:* Phylica arborea* Phylica polifolia, Pillans...
       – Hard-leaf


  • Tribe Pomaderreae
    • Blackallia
    • Cryptandra
      Cryptandra

      Cryptandra is a genus of shrub in the plant family Rhamnaceae....
    • Pomaderris
      Pomaderris

      Pomaderris is a genus of 70 species of shrub to small tree in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. 65 of the species are native to Australia and the other five are from New Zealand....
    • Siegfriedia
    • Spyridium
      Spyridium

      Spyridium is a genus of plants in the family Rhamnaceae. It includes about 30 species found in southern Australia.Species include:*Spyridium bifidum Benth....
    • Stenanthemum
    • Trymalium


  • Tribe Rhamneae
    • Auerodendron
      Auerodendron

      Auerodendron is a genus of plant in family Rhamnaceae.Species include:* Auerodendron jamaicense, Urb.* Auerodendron pauciflorum, Alain...
    • Berchemia
      Berchemia

      Berchemia is a genus of plants in the family Rhamnaceae, named after Dutch botanist Berthout van Berchem. They are climbing plants or small to medium-sized trees that occur in Africa, Asia and America....
       – Bird plum, Red Ivory
    • Berchemiella
      Berchemiella

      Berchemiella is a genus of plants in the family Rhamnaceae. It includes three species, two found in China and another in Japan....
    • Chaydaia
    • Condalia
      Condalia

      Condalia is a genus of spiny shrubs native to arid areas of either North America or South America comprised within the Rhamneae tribe of the Rhamnaceae family....
       - Bluewood
    • Frangula
      Buckthorn

      The Buckthorns are a genus of about 100 species of shrubs or small trees from 1-10 m tall , in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. They are native throughout the temperate and subtropical Northern Hemisphere, and also more locally in the subtropical Southern Hemisphere in parts of Africa and South America....
    • Karwinskia
    • Krugiodendron
    • Reynosia
      Reynosia

      Reynosia is a genus of plant in family Rhamnaceae.Species include:* Reynosia jamaicensis, M.C. Johnston...
    • Rhamnella
      Rhamnella

      Rhamnella is a genus of plant in family Rhamnaceae.Species include:* Rhamnella gilgitica, Mansf. & Melchoir...
    • Rhamnus
      Buckthorn

      The Buckthorns are a genus of about 100 species of shrubs or small trees from 1-10 m tall , in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. They are native throughout the temperate and subtropical Northern Hemisphere, and also more locally in the subtropical Southern Hemisphere in parts of Africa and South America....
       – Buckthorn
    • Sageretia
      Sageretia

      Sageretia is a genus of about 35 species of shrubs and small trees in the family Rhamnaceae, native to southern and eastern Asia and northeast Africa....
    • Scutia – Cat-thorn


  • Tribe Ventilagineae
    • Smythea
      Smythea

      Smythea is a genus of plants in the family Rhamnaceae. It includes seven species found in southeast Asia and Polynesia....
    • Ventilago
      Ventilago

      Ventilago is a genus of plants in the family Rhamnaceae. It includes about 35 species found in the tropics of Australasia, with one species each in Africa and Madagascar....


  • Alphitonia
    Alphitonia

    Alphitonia is an arborescent genus of flowering plants with about 20 species, belonging to the buckthorn family of the rosid eudicots. It occurs in tropical regions of Southeast Asia, Oceania and Polynesia....
  • Ceanothus
    Ceanothus

    Ceanothus Carolus Linnaeus is a genus of about 50?60 species of shrubs or small trees in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. The genus is confined to North America, the center of its distribution in California, with some species in the eastern United States and southeast Canada, and others extending as far south as Guatemala....
  • Colubrina
    Colubrina

    Colubrina is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the buckthorn family, Rhamnaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Africa, the Americas, southern Asia, northern Australia, and the Indian Ocean islands....
  • Emmenosperma
  • Lasiodiscus
    Lasiodiscus

    Lasiodiscus is a small plant genus in the family Rhamnaceae, endemic to Africa and its adjacent islands. The small trees have opposite, often asymmetric leaves....
  • Schistocarpaea
  • Talguenea