Rhamnus frangula L. Rhamnaceae 'Asplenifolia' Alder Buckthorn. Deciduous shrub. Distribution: Europe, North Africa and to China. Rhamnus purshiana is the source of Cascara sagrada a powerful purgative. Rhamnus is the Greek for spiny shrubs
frangula is the Latin word for Buckthorn. Dodoens (1554) calls it Fragula and in Lyte's translation he calls it Black Aller (sic) or Alnus nigra and says that the bark soaked in wine and drunk causes profuse vomiting, and boiled in vinegar and applied to the scalp, cures scurf
cattle that eat the leaves, he reports, produce more milk. It contains anthraquinones, the same chemicals as found in Senokot. It is licensed for use in Traditional Herbal Medicines in the UK (UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
