Sha Ji

Hippophae rhamnoides L. (Elaeagnaceae), sea buckthorn, is a hardy, deciduous, dioecious shrub or small tree growing 2-6 m tall, with grey-brown, thorny branches and a deep, suckering root system bearing nitrogen-fixing actinorhizal nodules. The alternate, linear-lanceolate leaves are silvery-grey, scaly on both surfaces. Inconspicuous, apetalous flowers appear before the leaves in spring; female plants bear dense clusters of bright orange to yellow, ovoid berries 6-9 mm across, ripening in late summer and persisting through winter. Each berry contains a single hard seed. Native to a broad arc from western Europe through Central Asia to China and the Himalayas, it colonises riverbanks, dunes, and disturbed ground. The vitamin- and carotenoid-rich fruit (Sha Ji) is used in TCM and Western herbal medicine as an antioxidant tonic.