Scientific Name: Hippophae rhamnoides
plant height: 8-12 feet
light requirements: full sun
soil & water preferences: grows well in well-drained loams.
Growing Instructions:
1. Scarification: soak in water for 24hours
2. germination: sow seeds 1/4″ in soil
With plenty to recommend it, Sea Buckthorn is widely used for healing in Asia and Europe, where it is valued as a potent anti-oxidant, a source for Vitamin C and a healing oil. The attractive small tree or shrub, also called Seaberry, is likely the most widely grown, northern hardy, fruiting plant in the world, but most Americans have never heard of it! In Europe, the sour, flavorful fruit is sweetened and its orange passion fruit like flavor makes fine sauces, jellies and a base for liqueurs. Blended with other fruits, it makes a delicious juice. The plants, native to the Russian Far East, are incredibly productive and a great choice for backyard fruit production! Sea Buckthorn is dioecious, with separate male and female plants. Narrow silver leaves and plentiful round, yellow-orange fruit cover the 6 to 10 feet tall, narrow, upright female forms. Sea Buckthorn withstands severe weather and grows huge root systems in poor soil (and fixes nitrogen in the soil). It can grow in low rainfall areas of mountains, sea coast and semi-desert areas. They are extremely hardy, to -50° F., disease resistant and easy to grow.
For centuries, the people of Central and Southeastern Asia have used Sea Buckthorn as an agent of traditional medicine to prevent and treat various ailments. Today, the plant is primarily valued for its fruits, which provide vitamin C, vitamin E and other nutrients, antioxidants, oils rich in essential fatty acids and other healthful components. The leaves are also used for making a multi-vitamin herbal beverage. The list of products made with Sea Buckthorn is long and varied including jams, juices, cosmetic lotions, nutritional supplements and liquors. Branches are used in floral displays, and commercial crops are harvested by cutting off entire fruit-laden branches. For many animal and bird species, Sea Buckthorn is an important source of food and shelter.
Medicinal uses of Sea Buckthorn are well documented in Asia and Europe. Clinical tests on medicinal uses were first initiated in Russia during the 1950s. The most important pharmacological functions attributed to Sea Buckthorn oil are: anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, pain relief and promoting regeneration of tissues. More than ten different drugs have been developed from Sea Buckthorn in Asia and Europe.
The ancient Greeks named the genus Hippophaë,or “glittering horse,” because they believed that horses became plump and healthy when maintained on pastures with these shrubs. Today, herdsmen in northwest China often feed Sea Buckthorn leaves to their animals. In Russia, fodder supplements of Sea Buckthorn by-products are reported to improve live weights and coat condition. Feeding poultry with meal made from Sea Buckthorn fruit and fruit oil has been observed to increase the pigmentation of egg yolks and body fat. The oil also increases flesh pigmentation in rainbow trout.
