Paliurus
(the old Greek name used by Theophrastus). SYN. Aubletia. ORD. Rhamneae. A genus comprising a couple of species of sub-erect or decumbent, glabrous or slightly tomentose, hardy shrubs, armed with stipular prickles; one is a native of South Europe and Western Asia, and the other of South China. Flowers small, five-parted; pedicels axillary, fasciculate, or in short, aggregated cymes. Fruit hemispherical, coriaceous. Leaves sub-distichous and alternate, petiolate, ovate or cordate, three-nerved, crenulated, with two thorns at the base of each, either both erect, or one erect and the other recurved. P. aculeata is supposed by some writers to have furnished the crown of thorns which was placed on the head of Christ before His Crucifixion. The species grow in any ordinary soil. Propagation may be effected by layers, by cuttings of the roots, or by seeds. P. aculeatus (prickly). Christ's Thorn; Garland Thorn. fl. greenish-yellow; umbellules axillary, few-flowered, crowded. June and July. fr. resembling a head on which is a broad-brimmed hat. l. ovate, serrulated, quite smooth, three-nerved, with two spines at their base, one erect, the other hooked. Branchlets pubescent. h. 8ft. Mediterranean region, 1596. P. Aubletia (Aublet's). fl. greenish-yellow, in axillary corymbs. July and August. l. obliquely cordate or elliptical, three-nerved, shining, serrulated, with two thorns at the base of each, one erect, the other recurved. Branches smooth. h. 10ft. South China, 1819. SYN. P. virgatus (B. M. 2535). P. virgatus (twiggy). A synonym of P. Aubletia.