# Lanceleaf Buckthorn (Rhamnus lanceolata) > A native buckthorn of limestone glades and bluffs, a slender shrub with glossy leaves and small black fruit for birds, and not the invasive kind. Also called lance-leaved buckthorn, eastern lanceleaf buckthorn. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/lanceleaf-buckthorn/ ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 3 to 15 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 8 - Grows wild in: Rocky ground, dry uplands, rich moist slopes and stream banks - Native range: 21 states, north to Wisconsin, south to Louisiana and west to South Dakota (Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin) - Sun: Full, Part - Soil moisture: Average, Dry - Growth rate: Medium - Traits: Wildlife value, Rare - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Lanceleaf buckthorn is a slender native shrub of limestone glades, rocky bluffs, hill prairies, seeps and thickets, from Pennsylvania and Wisconsin south to Alabama and Texas. It is easily mistaken for the invasive common buckthorn, but its leaves sit singly along the twig, not in pairs, and it does not spread by runners. Pennsylvania lists it as endangered, and Wisconsin lists it as a species of special concern. Plant it on limy, rocky ground at a sunny woodland edge, where birds can find its fruit. ## Size, growth and what to expect No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as a medium grower, like our Carolina buckthorn, about a foot and a half a year. It makes an upright shrub of 3 to 15 feet, with smooth gray bark and glossy, finely toothed leaves 1 to 3 inches long. Small greenish yellow flowers open from April to June in clusters of two to four along the twigs, and small bees and flies carry their pollen. The fruit turns from green to red and then shiny black, a round drupe about a quarter inch across. Brown thrashers and other birds eat it. It grows wild from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin west to South Dakota and south to Alabama and Texas. Its homes are limestone glades, rocky ledges, thinly wooded bluffs, hill prairies, seeps and bottomland thickets. It is rare at the edges of its range, and NatureServe ranks it critically imperiled in Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wisconsin. ## How to grow Lanceleaf Buckthorn Lanceleaf buckthorn grows in full sun or part shade, in a moist to somewhat dry soil. It does best in slightly alkaline soil over limestone, whether clay loam or rocky. Set plants 8 feet apart and keep them 8 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch clear of the stems. Sow the cleaned seed outdoors in fall, so winter can chill it. Seed kept until spring needs damp cold first, so give it 30 to 60 days in the refrigerator, as Carolina buckthorn seed gets. Water weekly through the first summer and in dry spells until it is established. Buckthorn leaves and bark are toxic, so most mammals leave it alone. Deer still browse the twigs and rabbits gnaw the bark in winter, so cage young plants. Its small flowers are mostly male or female, and sources disagree on whether one plant bears both kinds, so plant several seedlings if you want fruit. The larvae of two tiny moths mine its leaves and an aphid feeds on it, though such damage is seldom recorded. ## Sources - [Flora of North America, vol. 12: Rhamnus lanceolata, eastern lanceleaf buckthorn](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242417129) - [Illinois Wildflowers (John Hilty): Lance-leaved Buckthorn, Rhamnus lanceolata](https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/plants/ll_buckthorn.htm) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Rhamnus lanceolata](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=RHLA) - [Alabama Plant Atlas: Endotropis lanceolata, western lance leaf buckthorn](http://www.floraofalabama.org/Plant.aspx?id=3097) - [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Rhamnus chapter (Youngblood)](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/r/at_download/file) - [NatureServe Explorer: Rhamnus lanceolata, Lanceleaf Buckthorn](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.133186/Rhamnus_lanceolata) - [Pennsylvania Code, 17 Pa. Code 45.12, Pennsylvania Endangered](https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/secure/pacode/data/017/chapter45/s45.12.html&d=reduce) - [Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: Wisconsin Natural Heritage Working List, 04/01/2026](https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/NHI/WList) - [West Virginia Division of Natural Resources: Rare Plants tracked by the West Virginia Natural Heritage Program, 4 August 2020](http://wvdnr.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/RTE_Plants.pdf) - [Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation: Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia, Rare Plants, June 2026](https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/plantlist-current.pdf) - [Alabama Natural Heritage Program: 2023 tracking list](https://cosam.auburn.edu/biology/alnhp/_assets/2023_trackinglist.pdf) - [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Rhamnus lanceolata](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/RHLA) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md) - [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md) - [Native trees and shrubs for birds: caterpillars, fruit, mast, nests and winter cover, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-birds/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Lanceleaf Buckthorn, add ?species=lanceleaf-buckthorn with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=lanceleaf-buckthorn&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Lanceleaf Buckthorn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=lanceleaf-buckthorn): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=lanceleaf-buckthorn - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Lanceleaf Buckthorn is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=lanceleaf-buckthorn - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Lanceleaf Buckthorn needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=lanceleaf-buckthorn:2 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Lanceleaf Buckthorn flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.