Rhamnaceae

What science is finding about Rhamnaceae

Every article on Plant News that mentions a member of this family, newest first.

Latest finding

Invasive buckthorn sightings surge across Canada this week

Sightings of common buckthorn, an invasive shrub, spiked to 239 observations across Canada in one week, up from 182 the week before, as citizen scientists track its spread on iNaturalist.

Common Buckthorn

Canadians keep spotting this invasive shrub everywhere, numbers easing

If you walk a wooded park edge or trail in Canada this fall, you're probably passing clusters of this shrub whose dark berries...

Common Buckthorn invasive-species / native-plants

Invasive buckthorn sightings in Canada drop but stay high

If you've noticed a shrub with glossy oval leaves and small black berries crowding out native plants along a trail or fence...

Common Buckthorn invasive-species / citizen-science

Invasive buckthorn sightings stay high across Canada, but easing

If you're pulling woody saplings out of a local woodlot or fencerow, there's a good chance it's common buckthorn, a shrub that...

Common Buckthorn invasive-species / native-plants

Invasive buckthorn sightings jump 50% across Canada as autumn arrives

The shrub with dark berries and leaves that stay green after your maple and ash have turned is probably buckthorn, and pulling...

Common Buckthorn invasive-species / citizen-science

DNA tests and water baiting best catch nursery plant pathogens before they reach wildlands

The native toyon and coffeeberry you buy for a habitat garden or restoration planting could carry root-rotting pathogens into...

California coffeeberry native-plants / plant-disease

Invasive buckthorn is surging in sightings across yards and woods

If you've noticed a shrub with glossy dark berries and thorny branches crowding out everything else along your fence line or...

Common Buckthorn invasive-species / phenology

Invasive buckthorn sightings spike in citizen science reports this week

If you've noticed a dense, dark-berried shrub crowding out everything else along a trail or fence line, this is likely the...

Common Buckthorn invasive-species / urban-ecology

Invasive buckthorn shrub is spiking in nature sightings this week

That dense thicket of dark green shrubs crowding the edge of your local woods or trail might be common buckthorn, a plant that...

Common Buckthorn invasive-species / native-plants

Root fungus helps okra thrive in salty, metal-tainted soil

If you've ever struggled with a corner of your garden that stays salty or was once near old paint or batteries, this fungus...

Ziziphus lotus phytoremediation / soil-health

Hazelnut shrubs boost soil life more than any other pine understory plant

The hazelnut or rowan you might plant near a pine tree in your yard isn't just adding variety above ground, it's actively...

Alder buckthorn soil-health / mycorrhizal-networks

Jujube fruit extracts show promise fighting germs and oxidation

The jujube tree many gardeners grow for its sweet, date-like fruit turns out to pack antibacterial and antioxidant compounds...

Ziziphus lotus medicinal-plants / ethnobotany

This drought-tolerant native shrub feeds bees and enriches soil for free

New Jersey tea fixes its own nitrogen through root nodules, meaning it feeds the soil around it while also feeding native bees...

New Jersey tea native-plants / phenology

Slow-ripening fruits drove some Berchemia vines to abandon seed-making entirely

Berchemia vines, relatives of buckthorn, thread through forests across Asia and Africa, and understanding why some populations...

Berchemia reproductive-biology / climate-adaptation

Overlooked tree-root partnerships quietly maintain nitrogen in whole ecosystems

Alder trees lining the creek in your local park are quietly building soil fertility from scratch, no fertilizer required,...

Ceanothus soil-health / nitrogen-fixation

Endophytic Bacillus subtilis ED24 from Ziziphus lotus (L.) Desf. roots enhances wheat performance and shapes rhizosphere microbiota.

The scraggly desert shrubs that outlast everything else in arid landscapes aren't just surviving — they're sheltering...

Jujube soil-health / crop-improvement

Green synthesis, characterization, evaluation of anticancer and antioxidant potentials of gold and copper oxide nanoparticles using jujube fruit extract.

Humble jujube fruit, which you might grow in your backyard or find at a farmers market, contains natural compounds powerful...

Jujube green-synthesis / plant-derived-medicine

An investigation into the efficacy and mechanism of Berchemia kulingensis leaves in suppressing synovial tissue inflammation in a rat model of gouty arthritis.

It's a reminder that the next overlooked shrub in a forest or botanical garden could hold real medicinal value — this plant...

Berchemia kulingensis plant-signaling / medicinal-plants