Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. While searching for bog plants, I’ve come across swamp buckthorn, Sideroxylon thornei. This is a tardily deciduous small tree, meaning it looses its leaves late in the year right before it leafs out again. It has fragrant flowers that attract pollinators – and since its monoecious, any plant I get will have small fruits that many wild animals, birds included, enjoy. It is a craggy character as it has fast primary growth but then produces short, spur stems that hold the flowers. It probably has few insect pests as it exudes a milky sap it the twigs are broken. With the disappearance of the wetlands habitat it requires, this and several other species of buckthorn, Sideoxylon are endangered. Perhaps birds or possums or raccoons will eat fruits from my tree and deposit seeds in another damp area where this tree can flourish.
The Endangered Swamp Buckhorn Tree
