Rhamnus cathartica

Shrub or small tree.

2–4 m high.

The branches are opposite and spine-tipped. The bark is blackish on the bole and green-gray on the twigs.

The leaves are opposite, petiolate and stipulate. The lamina is 3–7 cm long, elliptic – ovate, serrate and with 2–4 pairs of veins. The buds are imbricate.

The inflorescence is axillary, sparsely flowered cyme. The plant is dioecious. The flowers are 4 mm wide and unisexual. The calyx and corolla are four-leaved. The corolla is actinomorphic and yellow-white. The staminate flowers bear four stamens. The stigma of pistillate flowers is four-lobed.

The fruit is a drupe that is initially green and black when mature. The flesh is green.