Genus SHEPHERDIA, JVutt. 
Eloeagneae. Dicecia Octandria. 
St/st. Nat. Syst. Lin. 
Synonymes. 
Shepherdia, Hippophae, Of Authors. 
Derivations. The genus Shepherdia was named by Nuttall, in honour of the late Mr. William Shepherd, curator of the Liv- 
erpool botanic garden, a scientific horticulturist, to whose exertions that institution is greatly indebted for its success. 
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, 
campanulate 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 Elseagnus. 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. 
