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 An Illustrated Guide to
Common Weeds
of New Zealand
Rhamnus alaternus
evergreen
buckthorn
Family
RHAMNACEAE
 Reproduced
from
Common Weeds of New Zealand
by Ian Popay, Paul Champion & Trevor James
ISBN 0 473 09760 5
by kind permission of the
New Zealand
Plant Protection Society
Publication or other use of images or
descriptive text on these pages is unauthorised unless
written permission is obtained from the authors and
publisher.
Appropriate acknowledgement of the publication Common
Weeds of New Zealand must always be given.
Evergreen
shrub up to 5 m tall, or stunted in exposed sites.
- Flowers
Green, small, fragrant, 3-4 mm in diameter,
with no petals. Usually in hairy, scale-leaved racemes
or panicles. The turned-back calyx lobes are usually
red-edged. Flowers May-Nov.
- Fruit
Glossy dark red, egg-shaped drupes to 7 mm
long, turning black.
- Leaves
Leathery, glossy on the top surface.
Elliptical or egg-shaped, up to 6 cm long by 3 cm
wide. Leaves entire or with teeth that can be blunt or
sharp toothed.
- Stems
Young shoots purplish, angled, hairy.
Habitat
Scrub, forest
margins and plantations.
Distribution
Common in and
around Auckland City and Hauraki Gulf islands,
decreasing southwards in NI. Occasional in
Marlborough, Canterbury and Otago in SI. Originally
from the Mediterranean.
Comments
A serious
weed in some areas, such as on Rangitoto Island.
Listed on the National
Pest Plant Accord (see Introduction for
details).
Derivation of botanical name
Rhamnus Gr.
name for a shrub; alaternus Lat. name.
Web-notes:
Weed Links
On this site
Reproduced from Common Weeds
of New Zealand:
External Links
 Weedbusters
New Zealand
- Weedbusters is a weeds awareness and education programme that aims to
protect New Zealand's environment from the increasing weed problem.
- AgPest
- A free tool to assist farmers and agricultural professionals in decision-making regarding weed and pest identification, biology, impact and management.
 New Zealand Weeds Key
- An interactive identification key to the weeds of New Zealand. Developed at Landcare Research.
New
Zealand Plant Conservation Network naturalised plants
- Search for information on more than 2500 naturalised and weedy plants.
 New
Zealand Plant Protection Society
- Their main objective: "To pool and exchange information on the biology
of weeds, invertebrate and vertebrate pests, pathogens and beneficial organisms
and methods for modifying their effects."
-
 Massey
University Weeds Database- A site providing information about New Zealand weeds and weed control.
It has a series of pages showing pictures of New Zealand weeds, notes on
identification and control. It also provides information on a university
paper entitled Controlling Weeds.
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