Rhamnus lycioides L. subsp. oleoides (L.) Jahand. & Maire
Rh. oleoides L.
Eng.: Mediterranean buckthorn, black hawthorn. Spa.: Espino negro, cambrón. Fre.: Nerprun faux-Iyciet. Ara.: Butefiche, cherura, selluf, admam, harcha.
Shrub, evergreen, spiny, up to 3(4) m in height, very ramose, sometimes intricate, erect. Stems and older branches with slightly fissured bark (also in older specimens), greyish-brown or reddish-brown. Young branches glabrous, grey or brown-greyish (sometimes the younger ones are reddish), finishing in strong spines. Leaves (0.7-4.5 × 0.3-1 cm) alternate or fasciculate, lanceolate, oblong or obovate, usually obtuse, emarginate, rarely acute, attenuate at the base, entire margin, slightly coriaceous, glabrous, intense bright green on the upper side, matt green on the underside. Petiole the same colour as the branchlet, green or red. Inflorescence in axillary racemes, slightly numerous. Flowers greenish-yellowish, usually hermaphrodite, rarely unisexual or polygamous, with pedicel longer than the calyx. Calyx campanulate, with 4(5) triangular sepals, opened in a star-shape, usually without petals or, if present, very small. Fruit a drupe (4-6 mm), greenish-yellowish, which acquires a reddish hue at maturity, becoming bight black. Seeds 2-3, with a groove on the inside.
Flowering:
March to July.
Fruiting:
June to September.
Habitat:
Forests, thickets and rocky outcrops, usually accompanying Pinus halepensis (Aleppo pine), Tetraclinis articulata (thuya), Olea europaea (wild olive), Pistacia lenticus (mastic tree) and Ceratonia siliqua (carob tree). In semiarid to subhumid bioclimate, on inframediterranean and thermomediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Western Mediterranean region. In North Africa, according the Index Synonymique of Flore d’Afrique du Nord, Rh. lycioides has 4 subspecies. Rh. lycioides subsp. oleoides is the most abundant and widely distributed of all; it grows scattered throughout the Mediterranean region, from Morocco to Egypt.
Observations:
The other subspecies that grow in the region are rarer. Rh. lycioides subsp. velutina (Boiss.) Tutin, is shrub up to 3 m in height, differentiated by its leaves and branchlets densely covered with short hairs; it grows in SE Spain (from Malaga to Murcia), northern Morocco (northern Middle Atlas and western Tellian Atlas —Gaada in Debdou—), and central Tunisia (Thelepte, Sidi Bu Zid, Jebel Berda and gorges of Seldja). Rh. lycioides subsp. atlantica (Murb.) Jahand. & Maire, also a tall shrub, spiny, glabrous, with oval-oblong or obovate-oblong leaves, with a sinuous margin and slightly compressed fruits; endemic to North Africa (mountains of Middle Atlas, High Atlas, western Anti-Atlas and western Tellian Atlas). Rh. lycioides subsp. borgiae Rivas Mart. & J.M.Pizarro, creeping subshrub, rupicolous, less than 0.5 m in height, with leaves similar to subsp. oleoides, but much smaller and narrower; it grows only in the limestone rocky areas of eastern Spain and northern Morocco and Tunisia. According to the review for Flora iberica, Rh. lycioides subsp. oleoides is recognised as Rh. oleoides L., with 4 subspecies, with the type subspecies (Rh. oleoides L. subsp. oleoides) cited in North Africa; likewise Rh. lycioides subsp. velutina is recognised as a species (Rh. velutina Boiss.) with 2 subspecies, with the type subspecies (Rh. velutina subsp. velutina) cited in Morocco and Tunisia; considering Rh. lycioides subsp. borgiae as an endemic to the Iberian Peninsula. The revision for Euro+Med Plantbase recognises the presence of the following taxa in North Africa: Rh. lycioides subsp. oleoides, Rh. lycioides subsp. velutina, Rh. lycioides subsp. atlantica, Rh. lycioides subsp. borgiae and Rh. lycioides subsp. graeca (Boiss. & Reut.) Tutin.
Conservation status:
Common and widely distributed species, not considered threatened. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Livre Rouge de la flore vasculaire du Maroc (Fennane, 2021) it has been considered as Least Concern (LC). In the updated red list of Egypt (Shaltout & Bedair, 2023) it has been considered as Endangered (EN).
