The Goumi 359 



THE GOUMI (Fig. 51) 



Elceagnus multi flora, Thunb. 



The goumi is a low, bushy shrub, with dark gray or 

 rusty brown branches, commonly unarmed, though some- 

 times bearing spines. The leaves are green above, silvery 

 beneath, and sprinkled with dark colored spots. The 

 flowers are small, yellowish within, silvery and roughly 



Fig. 51. The goumi. 



scurfy on the outside, often dark-dotted like the lower 

 surface of the leaves. They appear by the middle of May, 

 and are borne at the base of short side shoots of the current 

 season's growth. The fruit is oval, blunt, or slightly flat- 

 tened at the ends, half an inch or more in length, cinnabar- 

 red or orange colored, and covered with silvery white dots. 

 It ripens in July, and is juicy and fine looking, but at 

 first very astringent, leaving a disagreeable taste in the 

 mouth. This quality disappears to some extent when the 

 fruit is fully ripened. 



The plant grows wild in eastern Asia, from Himalaya 



