Glossy Buckthorn - Frangula alnus
  • Shrub or small tree to 7m
  • Leaves entire and shiny above
  • Fruit found in the leaf axils and ripening to purple/black
  • Yellow sapwood and pinkish to orange heartwood
  • Rhamnus cathartica - Common buckthorn, which is also invasive to NB, often has thorns on hte ends of branches and leaves with slight toothed edge
  • Rhamnus alnfolia - is a native shrub to 1m with leaves with toothed edges and found on mostly calcareous soils

The Problem

  • Can form very dense even-age stands shading out native vegetation and preventing regeneration of all but the most shade tolerant species
  • Seeds are dispersed widely by birds, rodents and water
  • Can colonize a variety habitats

Distribution

  • In NB most common and rapidly spreading in the Miramichi and Lower St. John River Valleys
  • Found throughout northeastern and northcentral North America