Hippophae salicifolia

Hippophae salicifolia, commonly known as the willow-leaved sea buckthorn, is a plant species in the genus Hippophae. A hardy shrub or small tree with simple and delicate flowers, and berries and leaves are manufactured into various human and animal food and skincare products.^[1] It is restricted to the Himalayas, growing at high altitudes in dry valleys. It is a low shrub not growing taller than 1 m (3 ft 3 in) with small leaves 1–3 cm (1⁄2–1+1⁄4 in) long.^[2] It has distinct dioecious characteristics with an XY sex determination system that has been studied through its genome sequencing.^[3]

The genus name Hippophae comes from Ancient Greek ἵππος (híppos), meaning 'horse', and φάος (pháos), meaning 'light', and is due to the ancient greeks use of sea buckthorn leaves as horse fodder to make their coats shine more.^[4][5][6] The specific epithet comes from Latin salix, meaning 'willow', and folium, meaning 'leaf'.