{"id":827,"date":"2023-11-08T13:56:41","date_gmt":"2023-11-08T18:56:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/?page_id=827"},"modified":"2025-06-18T08:50:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T12:50:36","slug":"common-and-glossy-buckthorn","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/common-and-glossy-buckthorn\/","title":{"rendered":"Common and Glossy Buckthorn"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Identification:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><u>Glossy buckthorn<\/u>, native to Europe and Asia, is a highly invasive perennial understory shrub or a small tree that can reach heights of 15-20 feet and 10 inches in diameter. Leaves are oval, smooth, glossy, toothless, and have 8-9 veins that radiate outward from a central mid-vein. Leaves stay green late into the fall after most other trees have shed their leaf canopy, making glossy buckthorn easy to identify at this time of the year. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Common buckthorn<\/span>&nbsp;looks similar except branches terminate in sharp, \u00bc inch thorns, leaves are mostly opposite, egg-shaped, finely-toothed, and pointed, with 3-5 distinctive curved veins that extend from the leaf stalk to the tip. Both have reddish roots, making them easy to identify when pulling.&nbsp;Their rapid growth and prolific seed production make these plants an aggressive invader that can form dense thickets which shade and displace native under story plants, shrubs, and tree seedlings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Control:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hand pulling is acceptable for small saplings of this species, with mechanical removal and a &#8220;cut-and-dab&#8221; chemical treatment needed for larger bushes. A weed wrench is also recommended for small and medium plants. Make sure to bag all limbs that may contain berries to prevent the spread of the plant, and removal during periods that berries are not present is preferred. A final method for larger plants is the implementation of \u201cBuckthorn Bags,\u201d a black thick plastic baggy that can be placed over a cut trunk of the shrub to prevent it from resprouting. To be effective, buckthorn bags must be well secured and left in place for 2-3 years, as the roots can remain dormant for a long time and still bounce back.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/272\/2023\/11\/Common-Buckthorn-Glossy.jpg?version=40a22bce6861671f7c79a87cb3b8d46f\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-828 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/272\/2023\/11\/Common-Buckthorn-Glossy-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Glossy buckthorn\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/272\/2023\/11\/Common-Buckthorn.jpg?version=f18d47e74e6ee5d7507a444e09c3905b\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-829 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.sudbury.ma.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/272\/2023\/11\/Common-Buckthorn-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Common buckthorn\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/272\/2023\/11\/Common-Buckthorn-Berries.jpg?version=5734e3ed8197ff341a6d56ca57a3ed5b\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-830 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.sudbury.ma.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/272\/2023\/11\/Common-Buckthorn-Berries-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"Common buckthorn berries\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Identification:&nbsp; Glossy buckthorn, native to Europe and Asia, is a highly invasive perennial understory shrub or a small tree that can reach heights of 15-20 feet and 10 inches in diameter. Leaves are oval, smooth, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/common-and-glossy-buckthorn\/\" aria-label=\"Read full article about Common and Glossy Buckthorn\">Read full article<span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/827"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=827"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1341,"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/827\/revisions\/1341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sudbury.ma.us\/conservation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}