Alder buckthorn fine-leaved

The fine-leaved buckthorn, also known as Frangula alnus 'Asplenifolia' or Rhamnus frangula, is an upright shrub that grows all year round and reaches a height of up to 2 meters. It is native to Europe, the Mediterranean region and the Near East. See also American buckthorn, Rhamnus purshianus.

Phytotherapeutic use: Dried bark of the trunks and twigs of both Frangula species. see under Frangula alnus

The fine-leaved alder buckthorn has a smooth bark with cork nipples and belongs to the deciduous-leaf-bearing plants. The leaves of the shrub are narrow and elongated-elliptical in shape and are light to dark green in colour. The rather inconspicuous green and white flowers bloom in May and June; the fruits of the decaying tree are black berries.

Frangula alnus is the parent plant of Frangulae cortex, the medically used bark of the decaying tree, also known as yellowwood bark, monographed in Ph.Eur.2.

1. https://arzneipflanzenlexikon.info/faulbaum.php
2. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/herbal-monograph/european-union-herbal-monograph-rhamnus-frangula-l-cortex-revision-1_en.pdf