Frangula caroliniana (Walter) A. Gray

Locations ofFrangula caroliniana (Walter) A. Gray in Virginia

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Detail

Family
Rhamnaceae
Botanical Name
Frangula caroliniana (Walter) A. Gray
Common Name
Carolina Buckthorn
Synonym(s)
Rhamnus caroliniana Walter
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
Frangula caroliniana (Walt.) Gray
Comments
Long known from the counties of far Southwest Virginia, where common and unquestionably native. Relatively new records from Albemarle (1989), Franklin (2003), Rockbridge (2010), Augusta (2023), Louisa (2023), and Culpeper (2023) counties, suggest that the species is on the move or has been overlooked. This species is available in the nursery trade, and some of the outlying populations could represent escapes from cultivation. In Albemarle and Louisa cos. especially, this buckthorn is weedy in old fields, fencerows, and clearcuts.
Habitat
The typical habitats are barrens, woodlands, and dry forests over limestone or dolostone; limited to mafic substrates in the w. Piedmont and likely introduced to some of the locations that are weedy or atypical. Frequent in the mountains of far sw. Virginia; disjunct to Rockbridge County in the central Ridge and Valley, and to other counties further north.
Native Status
Native

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