Hippophae rhamnoides

Sea buckthorn is in the oleaster or Elaeagnaceae family and is native to cold temperate regions of Europe, northern Asia and China . It is a spiny deciduous small tree or shrub, reaching a height of up to 4 m tall.

• Leaves are alternate, simple, narrow and lanciolate, up to 8 cm long, with silver-green scaly surfaces.
• Branches and the tips of some twigs have sharp spines.
• The species is dioecious (bearing male and female flowers on separate plants), emerging before leaves appear in the spring. Female inflorescence is small, without a corolla, with a two-lobed calyx and one carpel, non-showy, yellow-green in small racemes; male flower has two brownish sepals and four stamens.
• Fruit on female trees in the fall is pale yellow to dark orange, oval or roundish, 8 mm long, persisting through winter. It is considered highly nutritious.