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Rhamnus carolinianus

Common name:	Indian Cherry	Family:	Rhamnaceae
Author:	Walter.	Botanical references:	11, 43, 200
Synonyms:	Frangula caroliniana ((Walter.)A.Gray.)
Known Hazards:	Although no specific mention of toxicity has been found for this species, there is the suggestion that some members of this genus could be mildly poisonous[65].
Range:	Eastern N. America - Virginia to Florida, west to Texas and Nebraska.
Habitat:	Rich woods, sheltered slopes, borders of streams and limestone ridges[43, 82]. Swamps and low ground[235].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	R. caroliniana[B,E,G,,P] R. caroliniana var. mollis[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Carolina Buckthorn [DEN2,P,B],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rhamnales. Buckthorn family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Us(Appalachia)

Physical Characteristics

A decidious tree growing to 12m at a slow rate. It is hardy to zone 6. It is in flower in May, and the seeds ripen in September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Canopy, Secondary.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit - raw or cooked. The fruit has a thin rather dry flesh[82] with a sweet and agreeable flavour[2, 11, 105, 229]. The fruit is about 7 - 10mm in diameter and contains 2 - 4 small seeds[229]. Some caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Hepatic.

A tea made from the bark is emetic and strongly laxative[222]. It is used in the treatment of constipation with nervous or muscular atony of the intestines[222].
An infusion of the wood has been used in the treatment of jaundice[257].

Other Uses

Wood.

Wood - rather hard, light, close grained, not strong[82]. It weighs 34lb per cubic foot[227]. Too small to be of commercial value[229].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in any reasonably good soil[11], whether moderately acid or alkaline[149]. Prefers a moist moderately fertile soil in sun or partial shade[200].
One report suggests that the plant might not be very hardy in Britain[11], whilst another says that it is in climatic zone 6 and thus tolerates temperatures down to about -15° c[200].
A slow-growing and usually short-lived plant in the wild[229].
Plants are susceptible to 'crown rust' of oats[149]. The species in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].
This species is closely related to R. purshiana[11].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed will require 1 - 2 months stratification at 5° c and should be sown as early in the year as possible in a cold frame[200]. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle, and grow them on in the greenhouse or cold frame for their first winter. Plant them out in late spring or early summer of the following year.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, July/August in a frame[113].
Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, autumn in a frame.
Layering in early spring[4].

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Frangula caroliniana (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for Rhamnus caroliniana (a possible synonym).

[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.

References for the family Rhamnaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[43] Fernald. M. L. Gray's Manual of Botany. American Book Co. 1950
A bit dated but good and concise flora of the eastern part of N. America.

[65] Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe 1984 ISBN 0723408394
Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.

[82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 ISBN 0-486-20278-X
Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[113] Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press 1987 ISBN 0942375009
A very detailed book on propagating trees. Not for the casual reader.

[149] Vines. R. A. Trees of Central Texas. University of Texas Press 1987 ISBN 0-292-78958-3
Fairly readable, it gives details of habitats and some of the uses of trees growing in Texas.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.

[227] Vines. R.A. Trees of North Texas University of Texas Press. 1982 ISBN 0292780206
A readable guide to the area, it contains descriptions of the plants and their habitats with quite a bit of information on plant uses.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
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