A genus of shrubs and small trees known for their purgative bark, commonly called buckthorn.
From Medieval Latin frangula, diminutive of the word frango meaning 'to break' (referring to the brittle wood), with the suffix -ula added. The word evolved from Latin and became the scientific name for this medicinally important plant genus.
Frangula has been used medicinally for centuries—the bark was a powerful laxative in medieval and early modern medicine so potent that doctors had to be careful about dosing. Modern pharmaceutical companies still use compounds derived from frangula species in over-the-counter laxatives today, making it one of the few plants with continuous medicinal use spanning over 1000 years.
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