Name: Rhamnaceae
Meaning of Name:
Rhamnaceae, from Late Latin rhamnus (‘a thorn bush’), from Ancient Greek ῥάμνος (rhámnos, ‘various prickly shrubs’) + Latin -āceae (the feminine plural of -āceus, ‘resembling’, a suffix used to form the taxonomic family names of plants, algae, bacteria, and fungi)
Common Names:
The buckthorn family
Botanical Information:
Rhamnaceae, or the buckthorn family, comprises 55 genera and 9500 species.
Some species in this family are grown as ornamentals, while others have economic importance producing fruit, wood, and dyes.
Surprisingly for a family called the buckthorn family, the defining botanical characterisitc of Rhamnaceae species is not the thorns, but their unmistakeable flowers!
The photo chosen to illustrate this family shows the flower of the Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujuba).
Image copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
