0093 



SEA BUCKTHORN 



Family: ELAEAGNACEAE 



Reproductive system: DlOECY, TETRANDRY. 



The sea buckthorn, Hippophae rhamnofdes 9 Linn., is a large, very densely 

 branched shrub. The ends of the branches usually are thorny and bent. Its bark is gray- 

 brown. The leaves are narrow, oblong, almost obtuse, grayish green above and silvery- 

 gray with scattered russet scales underneath. The flowering plants are dioecious; the male 

 flower has a calyx with two deep divisions and four anthers with very short filaments. 

 The females have a calyx with two divisions that are not as deep as those in the male. 

 Either one or the other flower can appear before the leaves develop. The calyx is adherent 

 to the ovary, which terminates in a thick stigma and develops into a globular orange- 

 yellow berry with a single compartment containing one seed. 



FLOWERS: in April. 



RANGE: moist sand; the dunes of the Mediterranean seashore. 



NOMENCLATURE: Hippophae: a name composed of two Greek words that mean 

 horse and light It was a name for an unknown plant that was thought capable of giving 

 sight to horses. Commonly called argousse, faux nerprun [Translator's note: false 

 buckthorn]. German, haffdorn, werdendorn, seedorn. Dutch, duinbessen. English, sea 

 buckthorn. Spanish, spina amarillo. Russian, rakitnik. 



USES. The sea buckthorn is grown in a number of groves where its whitish foliage 

 contrasts handsomely with the green of the other trees. 



The bark of the trunk is an astringent, and the flesh of the its fruit has a tart flavor. 

 According to Villars [Translator's note: Dominic Villars, 1745-1814, French botanist and 

 taxonomist] the inhabitants of Dauphine use it for seasoning and also as a decoction to 

 treat vermin and skin diseases of animals. 



