{"id":124,"date":"2025-09-24T16:54:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T20:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/?p=124"},"modified":"2025-09-25T17:23:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T21:23:50","slug":"buckthorn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/","title":{"rendered":"Buckthorn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns sidebar is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50rem\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><em><em>Rhamnus cathartica<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-intro\">Buckthorn is a small, deciduous tree native to Europe and western Asia. Widespread across North America, buckthorn has become invasive in many areas and is considered naturalized in others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group boxout has-light-green-background-color has-background is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-12dd3699 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Location<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>A buckthorn can be found off Magnolia Trail where it nears Appleton Trail.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50rem\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"846\" height=\"564\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-126\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg 846w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 846px) 100vw, 846px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:4rem\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull section-intro has-light-warm-gray-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-stretch is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div style=\"background-image:url(&apos;https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/buckthorn-tree-846x564-1.jpg&apos;);background-position:50% 50%;background-size:cover;\" class=\"wp-block-group padded lifted has-white-background-color has-background wp-container-content-69bc4bdf is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:25.625rem\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group padded has-charcoal-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c8630e847ad2d74435922219dfb08a50 is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">History at Hadwen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"intro has-medium-font-size\">There are no formal records of buckthorn in the Hadwen Arboretum until 2020. Due to its potentially invasive nature, it is possible that the present buckthorns were established from seeds of residential yards near the arboretum.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group section is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div style=\"color:var(--clarku-color-green)\" class=\"eyebrow  has-text-align-left\">Keep learning<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Detailed species information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Buckthorn, also known as European buckthorn or common buckthorn, is a deciduous tree in the family Rhamnaceae native to Europe and western Asia. Introduced to North America in the early 1800s, buckthorn is considered to be naturalized in some areas and invasive in others. Often a small multi-stem tree or shrub, buckthorn can reach 35 feet (10 meters) in height and is fast-growing and short-lived. The bark is dark gray and smooth when young and becomes rough and scaly with maturity. The branches often have small thorns at their ends. The leaves are oval-shaped, finely serrated on the edges, pointed at the tip, and sub-oppositely arranged. The flowers are small, four-petaled, and yellow-green. The fruit of the buckthorn is shiny black drupes that ripen in late summer and often cling to the tree throughout the winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In its native range, buckthorn thrives best in sunny and dry habitats such as scrublands and open woodlands. In North America, buckthorn is often found in disturbed areas such as woodlots, roadsides, and the edges of fields and pastures. The seeds are slightly toxic to most animals, except birds which commonly eat and disperse them. The bark, leaves, and fruit of buckthorn also contain allelopathic compounds which inhibit the germination of other plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In traditional medicine, the bark and fruit of buckthorn were sometimes ingested as a laxative, but this practice is rarely done today. It was introduced to North America as an ornamental and is still planted as a small tree or shrub in parks and gardens today.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rhamnus cathartica Buckthorn is a small, deciduous tree native to Europe and western Asia. Widespread across North America, buckthorn has become invasive in many areas and is considered naturalized in others. Location A buckthorn can be found off Magnolia Trail where it nears Appleton Trail. History at Hadwen There are no formal records of buckthorn [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":126,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trees"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Buckthorn | Hadwen Arboretum | Clark University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buckthorn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rhamnus cathartica Buckthorn is a small, deciduous tree native to Europe and western Asia. Widespread across North America, buckthorn has become invasive in many areas and is considered naturalized in others. Location A buckthorn can be found off Magnolia Trail where it nears Appleton Trail. History at Hadwen There are no formal records of buckthorn [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hadwen Arboretum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClarkUniversityWorcester\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-24T20:54:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-25T21:23:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"846\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"564\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@clarkuniversity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@clarkuniversity\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carol D&#039;Onofrio\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/buckthorn\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/buckthorn\\\/\"},\"headline\":\"Buckthorn\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-24T20:54:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-25T21:23:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/buckthorn\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":340,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/buckthorn\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/97\\\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Trees\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/buckthorn\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/buckthorn\\\/\",\"name\":\"Buckthorn | Hadwen Arboretum | Clark University\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/buckthorn\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/buckthorn\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/97\\\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-24T20:54:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-25T21:23:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b4c0be9f2f560ba702b0451d333f0619\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/buckthorn\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/buckthorn\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/97\\\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/97\\\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg\",\"width\":846,\"height\":564,\"caption\":\"Buckthorn leaves and berries\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/wp-json\\\/wp\\\/v2\\\/posts\\\/124#breadcrumbs\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":0,\"name\":\"ClarkU\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Hadwen Arboretum\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hadwen Arboretum\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Buckthorn | Hadwen Arboretum | Clark University","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Buckthorn","og_description":"Rhamnus cathartica Buckthorn is a small, deciduous tree native to Europe and western Asia. Widespread across North America, buckthorn has become invasive in many areas and is considered naturalized in others. Location A buckthorn can be found off Magnolia Trail where it nears Appleton Trail. History at Hadwen There are no formal records of buckthorn [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/","og_site_name":"Hadwen Arboretum","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClarkUniversityWorcester","article_published_time":"2025-09-24T20:54:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-25T21:23:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":846,"height":564,"url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@clarkuniversity","twitter_site":"@clarkuniversity","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carol D'Onofrio","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/"},"headline":"Buckthorn","datePublished":"2025-09-24T20:54:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-25T21:23:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/"},"wordCount":340,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg","articleSection":["Trees"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/","name":"Buckthorn | Hadwen Arboretum | Clark University","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-24T20:54:57+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-25T21:23:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c0be9f2f560ba702b0451d333f0619"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/buckthorn\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg","width":846,"height":564,"caption":"Buckthorn leaves and berries"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124#breadcrumbs","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":0,"name":"ClarkU","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Hadwen Arboretum","item":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/","name":"Hadwen Arboretum","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"fimg_url":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/buckthorn-leaf-846x564-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":199,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions\/199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}