''Frangula caroliniana'', commonly called the Carolina buckthorn, is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

upright shrub or small tree native to the southeastern, south-central, and mid-western parts of the United States, from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

east to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and north as far as

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

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, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. There is also an isolated population in the State of

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

in northeastern Mexico. It is found in a wide variety of habitats, including barrens, forests, and limestone bluffs.

Description

''Frangula caroliniana'' is usually around high, but capable of reaching in a shaded location. The most striking characteristic of this plant are its shiny, dark green leaves. The flowers are very small and inconspicuous, pale yellow-green, bell-shaped, appearing in leaf axils in late spring after the leaves. The fruit is a small (1/3 inch or 8.3 mm) round

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is a type of fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pip'' (UK), ''pit'' (US), ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed ...

; at first red, but later turning black with juicy flesh. It ripens in late summer. Despite its common name, the Carolina buckthorn is completely thornless. File:Frangula caroliniana.jpg, ''Frangula caroliniana'' in bloom

Ecology and uses

Wildlife such as songbirds eat the fruits, which are reported to have medicinal uses.

References

External links

photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden, collected in Missouri in 1995
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7320173 caroliniana Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora of the United States Flora of the Appalachian Mountains Plants described in 1788