From the archive record
Hippophae, the sea-buckthorns, are deciduous shrubs in the family Elaeagnaceae. The name sea-buckthorn may be hyphenated to avoid confusion with the buckthorns (Rhamnus, family Rhamnaceae). It is also referred to as sandthorn, sallowthorn, or seaberry. Seven species are recognized, two of them probably of hybrid origin, native over a wide area of Europe and Asia. Hippophae rhamnoides, the common sea-buckthorn, is by far the most widespread of the species in the genus, with the ranges of its eight subspecies extending from the Atlantic coasts of Europe across to northwestern Mongolia and northwestern China. In western Europe, it is largely confined to sea coasts where salt spray off the sea prevents other larger plants from outcompeting it, but in central Asia, it is more widespread in dry