''Sageretia'' (mock buckthorn or sageretia) is a genus of about 35 species of

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

s and small trees in the family

Rhamnaceae The Rhamnaceae are a large family of flowering plants, mostly trees, shrubs, and some vines, commonly called the buckthorn family. Rhamnaceae is included in the order Rosales. The family contains about 55 genera and 950 species. The Rhamnaceae h ...

, native to southern and eastern Asia and northeast Africa. They have small green

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

1.5–4 cm long, and a leathery multicoloured trunk. The flowers are small and inconspicuous; the fruit is a small edible

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

1 cm diameter. The genus is named after the French botanist

Augustin Sageret Augustin Sageret (27 July 1763 – 23 March 1851) was a French botanist. In 1826, Sageret carried out an experiment that involved hybridizing a muskmelon with a cantaloupe. He has been described as a precursor to Gregor Mendel. Zirkle, Conway. (1 ...

. ;Selected species *''

Sageretia brandrethiana ''Sageretia brandrethiana'' is a plant of the genus ''Sageretia'' and the family Rhamnaceae. It grows in the orient and northwest India. The plant produces a sweet fruit that is prized by the Afghans Afghans ( ps, افغانان, translit=af ...

'' *'' Sageretia camellifolia'' *''

Sageretia filiformis ''Sageretia'' (mock buckthorn or sageretia) is a genus of about 35 species of shrubs and small trees in the family Rhamnaceae, native to southern and eastern Asia and northeast Africa. They have small green leaves 1.5–4 cm long, and a lea ...

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Sageretia gracilis ''Sageretia gracilis'' is a shrub with slightly shiny dark green leaves and yellow-green flowers. It grows in thickets or forests in valleys and on mountains around 1200 to 3400 meters of W Guangxi, east and south east Xizang, and Yunnan, China ...

'' *'' Sageretia hamosa'' *''

Sageretia henryi ''Sageretia henryi'' is a woody shrub reaching a height of , sometimes although growing to the size of a small tree. It has green, ovate leaves and yellow or white flowers. The shrub is found in mountain thickets and dense forests of China in t ...

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Sageretia horrida ''Sageretia horrida'' is a 3m tall erect shrub with short branchlets and red-brown spines. It is found on forest margins on mountains and stony slopes between 1900 and 3600 m in W Sichuan, E Xizang, NW Yunnan, China China, officially th ...

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Sageretia laxiflora ''Sageretia laxiflora'' is a 10m tall shrub. The branchlets have yellow or white tomentose, while the older branches have stout spines. It is found in thickets on slopes and grasslands up to 700 m in elevation. It is located in W. Guangxi and ...

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Sageretia lucida ''Sageretia lucida'' is a shrub and can be found with or without spines. It is found in sparse forests within valleys about 300 to 800 m in elevation. Its native distribution is south-central China, southeast China including Hainan, Nepal, Sri L ...

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Sageretia melliana ''Sageretia melliana'' is a woody shrub evergreen. It has shiny green, ovate-elliptical leaves and white-yellow or yellow flowers. The shrub is found in the forest and forest margins of China in the Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, H ...

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Sageretia omeiensis ''Sageretia'' (mock buckthorn or sageretia) is a genus of about 35 species of shrubs and small trees in the family Rhamnaceae, native to southern and eastern Asia and northeast Africa. They have small green leaves 1.5–4 cm long, and a lea ...

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Sageretia paucicostata ''Sageretia'' (mock buckthorn or sageretia) is a genus of about 35 species of shrubs and small trees in the family Rhamnaceae, native to southern and eastern Asia and northeast Africa. They have small green leaves 1.5–4 cm long, and a lea ...

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Sageretia pycnophylla ''Sageretia'' (mock buckthorn or sageretia) is a genus of about 35 species of shrubs and small trees in the family Rhamnaceae, native to southern and eastern Asia and northeast Africa. They have small green leaves 1.5–4 cm long, and a lea ...

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Sageretia randaiensis ''Sageretia randaiensis'' is a small woody shrub. It has dark green, ovate-oblong leaves. The shrub is found in the mountains of C and N Taiwan. ReferencesRHAMNACEAE randaiensis Flora of Taiwan {{Rhamnaceae-stub ...

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Sageretia rugosa ''Sageretia'' (mock buckthorn or sageretia) is a genus of about 35 species of shrubs and small trees in the family Rhamnaceae, native to southern and eastern Asia and northeast Africa. They have small green leaves 1.5–4 cm long, and a lea ...

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Sageretia subcaudata ''Sageretia subcaudata'' is a small woody shrub reaching a height of . It has green, ovate leaves and white-yellow or white flowers. The shrub is endemic to China and found in mountain forests and thickets of N Guangdong, Guizhou, W Henan, Hube ...

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Sageretia theezans ''Sageretia theezans'' (sageretia, mock buckthorn, sweet-plum or Chinese sweet plum) is a shrub from the family Rhamnaceae, native to southern China. It is widely used for creating bonsai. Description It grows to 1–3 m tall and has small green ...

Cultivation and uses

The leaves are sometimes used as a substitute for tea in China, and the fruit are edible, though not an important crop. ''S. theezans'', from southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, is a popular species in

bonsai Bonsai ( ja, 盆栽, , tray planting, ) is the Japanese art of growing and training miniature trees in pots, developed from the traditional Chinese art form of ''penjing''. Unlike ''penjing'', which utilizes traditional techniques to produce ...

. ''S. paucicostata'', from northern China, is the most cold-tolerant species and is occasionally grown in gardens in Europe and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, though it is not generally considered very attractive as an ornamental plant. It is reputedly used as a way of cleaning minor cuts and lacerations, ensuring any germs left over will not infect the wound.

References

Rhamnaceae genera Taxa named by Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart {{Rhamnaceae-stub