''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

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s 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 Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and northeast

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. 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

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are small and inconspicuous; the

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

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 camellifolia'' *'' Sageretia filiformis'' *'' Sageretia gracilis'' *'' Sageretia hamosa'' *'' Sageretia henryi'' *''

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 Yunnan , () is a landlocked ...

'' *'' Sageretia laxiflora'' *'' Sageretia lucida'' *'' Sageretia melliana'' *'' Sageretia omeiensis'' *'' Sageretia paucicostata'' *'' Sageretia pycnophylla'' *'' Sageretia randaiensis'' *'' Sageretia rugosa'' *'' Sageretia subcaudata'' *'' Sageretia theezans''

Cultivation and uses

The leaves are sometimes used as a substitute for

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

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 Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

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 Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

. 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