西藏沙棘 xi zang sha ji

Hippophae rhamnoides Linnaeus subsp. tibetana (Schlechtendal) Servettaz.

Shrubs, small, sometimes rhizomatous, (5-)10-60(-80) cm tall. Older stems dark gray, thick, with regularly spaced scars of deciduous leafy branches; leafy stems slender, unbranched, spine tipped. Leaves mostly in whorls of 3; petiole ca. 1 mm; leaf blade abaxially whitish, adaxially grayish, linear-oblong, 1.2-2 × 0.25-0.4 cm, densely scaly, abaxially with scattered subentire, reddish brown scales and reddish brown midrib, margin flat. Male flowers ca. 2 mm; anthers ca. 1.5 mm. Peduncle 1-2 mm. Fruit yellowish green, globose to elliptic, terete, 8-11 × 6-9 mm. Endocarp difficult to separate from seed. Seed somewhat flattened, 4-5.6 × 1.9-2.8 mm. Fr. May. 2n = 24*.

Dry gravelly or stony places, especially on riverbeds and flood plains; 3600-4700 m. Gansu, Qinghai, Xizang [Bhutan, N India, Nepal].

The distinctively whorled leaves of Hippophae tibetana seem to have been overlooked by previous authors.