Glossy buckthorn

• shrub or small tree
• greyish brown bark with white horizontal lines
• shiny, dark green leaves with prominent veins
• leaves mostly alternate
• yellow sapwood (scratch the bark to see)

Common buckthorn

• shrub or small tree
• dark grey bark
• dark green, oval leaves with three or four pairs of curving veins and a somewhat folded tip
• leaves mostly opposite
• twigs usually tipped with a sharp spine
• yellow sapwood (scratch the bark to see)

NH Fact Sheet: Buckthorn