- Hippophae rhamnoides L. - Sea-buckthorn - Elaeagnaceae
© Paul Hackney
© Ralph Forbes
© Paul Hackney
(Map updated: March 2008)
This thorny shrub with narrow silvery leaves is native to the east coast of England but its value as a stabiliser of mobile sand dunes has led to its being planted in many dune systems elsewhere in the British Isles, including Northern Ireland. It is also used as a garden shrub and in amenity plantings such as alongside the shore motorway in north Belfast. It produces abundant bright orange fruits in late summer.
It forms impenetrable thickets, which have become a conservation problem on some dune systems because they crowd out native vegetation.
The map shows that most of the colonies of this species are around the coast, principally on sand dunes.
All names: Hippophae rhamnoides L.
NBN Atlas mapping: Species account : NBN Atlas UK Species Observations database
iNaturalist: Species account : iNaturalist World Species Observations database