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Rhamnus frangula, photographed by an iNaturalist contributor
(c) Douglas Goldman, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA
#1598 most planted

Rhamnus frangula

Alder buckthorn · also Glossy buckthorn, Breaking buckthorn, European alder buckthorn

Deciduous
28
trees mapped
0.00%
of all named trees
5
cities
5.0 in
median trunk (13 cm, 21 measured)
8.8 yr
median age (68% have a planting date)

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Rhamnus frangula is a tall deciduous shrub or small tree, notable for its lack of thorns and inconspicuous flowers. Native to Europe, northernmost Africa, and western Asia, it is suited for woodland settings but its berries are toxic.

Where it grows

Trees in each city's inventory, with the share of that city's named trees this species accounts for.

  1. Berlin · Germany
    128.8 yr3.6 in
  2. Boston · United States
    6—9.8 in
  3. Copenhagen · Denmark
    53.8 yr—
  4. Montreal · Canada
    3—4.7 in
  5. Amsterdam · Netherlands
    2——

Traits

Foliage
Deciduous
Mature height
10–15 ft
Canopy spread
6–10 ft
Growth rate
Moderate
Water needs
Moderate
Wildlife value
Moderate
Blooms
Mar, Apr, May

Trunk diameters across every city: median 5.0 in, mean 7.9 in, 90th percentile 17 in. Measured at breast height, as published by each inventory.

Native range

Terrestrial ecoregions where this species is native. Trees in the dataset mostly stand well outside it.

Temperate Broadleaf & Mixed Forests

  • Baltic mixed forests
  • Central Anatolian steppe and woodlands
  • Central China Loess Plateau mixed forests
  • Central European mixed forests
  • East European forest steppe
  • Eastern Anatolian deciduous forests
  • European Atlantic mixed forests
  • Western European broadleaf forests

Temperate Conifer Forests

  • Northern Anatolian conifer and deciduous forests

Montane Grasslands & Shrublands

  • Kuh Rud and Eastern Iran montane woodlands

Other Rhamnus in the catalogue

5 of the top 2,000 species are in this genus.

Interested in talking trees? arborary.world@gmail.comTree data © the respective municipal publishers and © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).