Genus SHEPIIERDIA, JVutt. 



Eloeayneae. Dioecia Oclandria. 



ayiit. A'at. Sytt. Lin. 



SynonijTMS, 



SJupherdia, Hippophae, Of AuxnoRS. 



Deriraliom. The genus Shephrrdia was named by Nuitall, in honour of the lale Mr. William Shepherd, curator of the Liv- 

 erpool bolaiiic garden, a scientific horticulturist, to wliose exertions that institution is greatly indebted for its succeas. 



Generic Characters. Flowers dioecious. Male calyx 4-cleft, much larger than that of the female. Corolla, 

 none. Stamina 8, alternating with a torus of 8 glands. Female flower with a small, 4-cleft, superior, 

 campanulaie calyx, and 8 glands. Style 1 ; stigma oblique, sub-capitate. Berry juicy, 1-seeded, glo- 

 bose, invested with the fleshy calyx. Nuttall, Sylva. 



^HE trees of this genus, as characterised by Mr. Nuttall, are small, 

 spinescent or unarmed, with the general aspect of Elaeagnus. The 

 leaves are entire, opposite, clothed with silvery and ferruginous 

 scales ; the berries pulpy, diaphanous, of a scarlet colour, and sub- 

 acid taste. There are two species indigenous to North America, 

 the Shepherdia argentea, hereafter considered, and the Shepherdia 

 canadensis, a thornless shrub, growing to the height of six or eight feet, bearing 

 brilliant scarlet berries, of a sweetish, though unpleasant taste, and principally 

 abounding throughout the British possessions, from Newfoundland to the north- 

 west coast of America. 



To the same natural order belong the oleaster, or wild olive-tree, (Elseagnus 

 hortensis,) and the sea buckthorn, (Hippophae rhamnoides,) both of which are 

 common throughout Europe, and a considerable portion of Asia. The former, 

 called in the south of Europe the " Tree of Paradise," is remarkable for the sil- 

 very whiteness of its foliage, and the fragrance of its blossoms, which are pro- 

 duced in great abundance, in the month of May, perfuming the air for a consid- 

 erable distance around ; and hence, is rendered a most desirable tree for a lawn 

 or shrubbery. When cultivated in a good soil, it sometimes attains the height of 

 thirty feet, with a head nearly as wide as it is high. The sea buckthorn, in 

 Europe, as it throws up suckers freely from the roots, and endures the sea-breeze, 

 is sometimes formed into hedges, and woody scenery, in marine situations, where 

 but few other trees or shrubs will grow. Its berries are much eaten by the Tar- 

 tars, who make a jelly or preserve of them ; and the fishermen of the Gulf of 

 Bothnia, prepare a rob, or jam from, them, which imparts a grateful flavour to 

 fresh fish ; but in some parts of France and Switzerland, they are considered as 

 poisonous. Rousseau, in his "Reverie du Promeneur Solitaire," relates a curi- 

 ous story, of his having made an excursion in the neighbourhood of Grenoble, 

 with a local botanist, who, though he saw him eating the fruit, which he believed 

 to be poisonous, was so polite, or regarded Rousseau with so much respect, that 

 he dared not presume to warn him of his danger. 



