Scientific name: Rhamnus cathartica L.
Common name: Buckthorn
Description
Habit: A spiny, deciduous, suckering shrub, to 8 m high.
Leaves: Alternate or sometimes nearly opposite, 4-9 cm, undivided, toothed, broadly oval, with 2-4 pairs of major lateral veins.
Flowers: Greenish, actinomorphic, hermaphrodite, in axillary clusters; sepals, petals and stamens 4, free; ovary superior.
Fruits: A berry with 3-4 seeds, black, 6-10 mm.
Twigs: Slender, reddish brown, later with thin and exfoliating grey layer, spiny.
Bark: Smooth, shiny grey to reddish brown, with many lenticels; dark grey and scaly when older, inner bark yellow.
Habitat: Woods, scrub, riverbanks, rocky lake-shores, margins of turloughs.Distribution: Locally frequent on the limestone, very rare elsewhere.
Native status: Native
Of conservation interest: No