Habitat: Rocky woods and along streams.
Range: Virginia across to Kansas, south to Texas, east to Florida.
Distinguishing Features: The Carolina Buckthorn is distinguished by its shiny, elliptical leaves, its red berries, and its small stature.
COMMON BUCKTHORN
Rhamnus cathartica L.
Growth Form: Small tree to 25 feet tall, often branching from near the base; trunk diameter up to 10 inches; crown spreading and irregular.
Bark: Gray to brown, roughened when mature.
Twigs: Gray to brown, usually smooth, some of them usually ending in a spine; leaf scars opposite to nearly so, narrow, with 3 bundle traces.
Buds: Lanceolate, brown, smooth, up to ¼ inch long.
Leaves: Broadly elliptic to ovate to nearly orbicular, rounded to pointed at the tip, usually rounded at the base, up to 2½ inches long and up to 1½ inches wide, finely toothed along the edges, smooth on both surfaces, the veins prominent; leafstalks slender, smooth, up to 1 inch long.