ELEAGNACEiE. 83 



England [Scotland \ Shrub. Spring. 



A small, rigid, inuch-branclicd shrub with spreading or ascendiuf^- 

 spiny branches, clothed with grey bark. In the wild state as it grows 

 on the Deal sand-hills it is rarely above 18 inches higli, l)ut at Folke- 

 stone and on the shores of the Firth of Forth it attains the height of 

 3 to (! feet, and has the branches less divaricate and much less spinous. 

 Leaves hi the Deal plant 1 to li^ inch long, but in the Haddington one 

 2 inches or even more. Flowers lateral, produced on the Avood of the 

 preceding year roimd the base of the young branches just when they 

 begin to shoot. Perianth of the male flowers yL inch long, subherba- 

 ceoiis, witli a few brownish scales at the margin. Anthers I inch long, 

 yellow. Fruit ovoid, shortly stalked, about the size of a red currant 

 orange, smooth, with a very thin skin enclosing watery juice, and so 

 giving the fruit the appearance of a berry, but the jnicy part is the 

 perianth, not the pericarp or placenta3, as in a true berry. Upper side 

 of the leaves greyish green, from the scales being scattered rather 

 thinly over them, except when very young, when they are more or less 

 furfuraceous ; under side of the leaves and branches of the year very 

 densely clothed with a continuous covering of scales, some of which 

 are white and silvery, others reddish brown, especially on the young 

 leaves, which at first are somewhat oblonof-obovate, but afterwards 

 lengthen out, till they somewhat resemble those of a narrow-leaved 

 osier. 



Sea BucJdliorn. 



French, Argousinr faux nerprun. German, Weidcnlliittrijer Seedoni. 

 Tin's is one of the few shrubs of any size which belong especially to the coast. 

 It seldom attains a height of more than twelve feet ; the leaves are willow-like and 

 of a silveiy white, rendering the bush very ornamental. The berries are of a bright 

 orange colour when ripe, and remain on the bush all the w'inter. The Siberians and 

 Tartars make a jelly from these berries, and eat them with milk and cheese, whilst 

 the inhabitants of the Gulf of Bothnia prepare from them a sort of rob, which they 

 use as a condiment with fish. Yet in some parts of Europe these berries are con- 

 sidered poisonous, and a story is told by Rousseau of a person who saw him eating 

 them, and though believing them to be poisonous, had too much respect for the great 

 man to caution him against the supposed danger. In some districts of France a 

 sauce is made from these berries and eaten with fish or meat. A decoction of them 

 is said to be useful in cutaneous ei'uptions. The colour may be extracted by hot 

 water and used as a dye for woollen stuffs, but it is not very brilliant when so 

 obtained. The roots of the plant are long and straggling, and often assist in binding 

 the loose sand on which it grows. It is therefore well fitted for planting in such 

 localities, and seems to protect other vegetation from the sea breezes, but the 

 straggling mode of its growth and its creeping roots render it unfit for hedges in 

 other situations. 



