Sawleaf buckthorn Sawleaf buckthorn

Rhamnus fasciculata Greene; R. serrata var. guatemalensis L. A. Johnson; R. smithii Greene subsp. fasciculata (Greene) C. B. Wolf

Shrubs to small trees, 0.8–2.5 m, unarmed. Branchlets gray-brown, 2 cm, puberulent, glabrescent. Bud scales dark red to reddish brown, coriaceous, dull. Leaves deciduous, alternate to subopposite; petiole 3–4 mm; blade usually yellowish brown, rarely green, abaxially, green adaxially, elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, 1.5–5(–5.5) cm, herbaceous, base cuneate to rounded or truncate, margins serrulate to crenulate, apex obtuse, both surfaces minutely hirtellous, often more densely so abaxially; secondary veins 5–8(–11) pairs, all diverging at nearly same angle. Inflorescences fascicles or flowers solitary. Pedicels 1–4 mm. Sepals 4. Petals 4. Drupes black, globose or slightly elongate, 4–6(–8) mm; stones 2.

Flowering Apr–Jun. Canyons, stream banks, open hillsides, ledges, ridges, among boulders, gravelly limestone hills, roadsides, mesic forests, woodlands; 1500–2600 m; Ariz., N.Mex., Tex.; Mexico, Central America (Guatemala).