Alder Buckthorn - Frangula alnus

An erect shrub or small tree to 4.5 metres, not spiny. Leaves oval, broadest above the middle, shiny green, hairy beneath when young, with 7 to 9 pairs of veins. Flowers 3mm greenish, solitary or clustered on the younger stems. Berry green at first, turning red and finally black.

Woodland on acid soils, but sometimes planted elsewhere.

Flowers in May or June.

Deciduous shrub.

Local in England and Wales, scarce elsewhere in Britain.

Rare as a native species in Leicestershire and Rutland, often introduced into new plantations.  

It was on the 2011 VC55 Rare Plant Register (Jeeves, 2011) but is not on the current RPR (Hall & Woodward, 2022); it is listed as 'data deficient' because it is not clear whether records are of introduced/escaped plants or natives.