Rhamnus alaternus L.
Eng.: Mediterranean buckthorn. Spa.: Aladierno. Fre.: Nerprun alaterne. Ara.: Qaced, ajrurj, selluf, settar, aud el kheir, el bags. Tam.: ajrurj, khalis-n-imidkh, mlila, meliles, amlilis, amliless.
Shrub or small tree, evergreen, dioecious, up to 8 m in height. Trunk and old branches with greyish-brown bark, slightly fissured and striated on older specimens. Young branchlets glabrous, reddish, sometimes purplish. Leaves (1-6 × 0.5-3 cm) alternate, ovate, lanceolate or elliptic, usually acute, attenuate at the base, with subentire or dentate margin, with 4-6 pairs of lateral veins, glabrous or slightly pulverulent, intense green on the upper side, lighter on the underside. Petiole short, with promptly caducous stipules. Inflorescence in sparse axillary racemes. Flowers greenish-yellowish, sessile, male and female flowers on separate plants. Calyx tubular-campanulate, usually with 5 lobes, lanceolate, which gradually recurve backwards until folding over the base of the calyx; in female flowers the sepals remain upright. Petals absent. Stamens with yellow anthers, showy, especially after the sepals fold. Fruit a drupe, ovate or globose, 4-6 mm in diameter, at first green, then red and finally black. Seeds 2-4, with a groove on the inside.
Flowering:
January to May
Fruiting:
June to September.
Habitat:
Sclerophyllous forests and thickets, on very different soil types, calcareous or siliceous. In semiarid to humid bioclimate, on thermomediterranean and mesomediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Mediterranean region. In North Africa it is a rare species, but very distributed in sclerophyllous forests and thickets of holm oaks (Quercus ilex), cork oak (Q. suber) and carob trees (Ceratonia siliqua), from Morocco to Libya.
Observations:
In Libya, a new subspecies has been described, Rh. alaternus subsp. pendulus (Pamp.) Jafri, endemic to the Akhdar massif and neighbouring mountains, that differs mainly for its pendulous branches and whitish leaf margin. According to the review in Flora iberica, there are 2 subspecies, with the type subspecies (Rh. alaternus subsp. alaternus) cited in North Africa. While the revision for Euro+Med Plantbase recognises the presence of both Rh. alaternus subsp. alaternus and Rh. alaternus subsp. pendulus in North Africa.
Conservation status:
Common and widely distributed species, not considered threatened. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.