Elaeagnaceae

▪ plant family

      the oleaster family of dicotyledonous flowering plants, which together with the family Proteaceae constitutes the order Proteales. The oleaster family comprises three genera of shrubs and small trees of the Northern Hemisphere, especially in steppe and coastal regions.

      The plants have a characteristic silvery or rusty-coloured sheen, produced by a covering of tiny, distinctive scales. Root nodules containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria are often associated with the roots. The flowers are radially symmetrical, bisexual or separately male and female, and lack petals but have a tubular structure of four sepals. The stamens (pollen-producing structures) occur in the same number as, or in twice the number of, sepals. The female structure, or pistil, is positioned above the attachment point of the other flower parts and is composed of one carpel (ovule-bearing structural unit) containing one ovule.

      The genera are Elaeagnus (45 species), Hippophae (3 species), and Shepherdia (3 species). The order is considered to have evolutionary ancestors close to the order Myrtales.

 Several shrubs of the order are cultivated ornamentally, especially the buffalo berry or silverberry (Shepherdia argentea; see photograph—>), oleaster (q.v.; Elaeagnus angustifolia), and the sea buckthorn (q.v.; Hippophae rhamnoides). The berries of several species are edible.

 

* * *