棱果沙棘 leng guo sha ji

Shrubs or small trees, to 7 m tall. Bark white; branches (sub)glabrous, lateral spines unbranched. Leaves alternate or opposite; leaf blade abaxially white, margin flat, abaxially with scales only. Fruit yellow or red, cylindric, with 3-5 small ridges, 6-10 mm. Seed straight, longitudinally ridged.

● River banks and terraces; 2500-3500 m. Qinghai, Sichuan.

Lian et al. (Proceedings of International Workshop on Seabuckthorn, 60-66. 1995) suggest that this taxon is of hybrid origin (Hippophae neurocarpa × H. rhamnoides subsp. sinensis) but it is uniform over a number of localities and produces fully fertile seeds, and thus merits treatment as a full species.