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WildBristol.uk - Discovering Wildlife in Bristol

23.) ELAEAGNACEAE & RHAMNACEAE

ELAEAGNACEAE - Sea-buckthorn family

HIPPOPHAE L.

  • Hippophae rhamnoides L. (ssp. rhamnoides) (Sea-buckthorn) / Coasts Scarce Not native in our area but well-established in places along the coast and parts of the tidal Avon. It is also sometimes planted inland for its attractive orange berries and silver leaves and occasionally escapes. The dense thickets this species produces by suckering, quickly smothers out the smaller coastal plants and threatens some of our rarest species. It is particularly invasive on the sand dunes at Sand Bay and management is needed to keep it in check.

ELAEAGNUS L.

  • Elaeagnus angustifolia L. (Oleaster) General Rare A native of Asia and Eastern Europe; sometimes planted for ornament in parks and other public green spaces.

  • Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb. (var. umbellata) (Spreading Oleaster) General Very Rare Recorded at Sand Point in 2000s by ? [BSBI record].

  • Elaeagnus macrophylla Thunb. (Broad-leaved Oleaster) General Very Rare Native to south-east Asia. Recorded at Hotwells in 2010s by ? [BSBI record].

  • Elaeagnus macrophylla x E. pungens = E. x submacrophylla Servett. (Ebbinge's Oleaster) General Very Rare - 2 BSBI records Recorded near Dundry, South Bristol in 2010s by ? and to the north of the region in 2020s by ? [BSBI records].

RHAMNACEAE - Buckthorn family

RHAMNUS L.

  • Rhamnus cathartica L. (var. cathartica) (Buckthorn) / Woodland Uncommon Generally distributed but not particularly frequent in old hedges and woods; predominantly on calcareous soils. It appears to have been much more common in the past and is reported by Murray (1896) to have "often been planted in old hedges for medicinal purposes"..."on account of the berries being in request for dog-medicine etc." (White, 1912) and was often used to create a syrup. It is the main food plant of the Brimstone butterfly Gonepteryx rhamni whose distribution, confusingly seems to be far greater and it often occurs in places far from any Buckthorn plant.

  • Rhamnus alaternus L. (ssp. alaternus) (Mediterranean Buckthorn) General Extinct Formerly occurred as a planted relic in three different localities: "During the last ten or twelve years my attention has been repeatedly drawn to a large bush of this species on the rocky slope near Proctor's Fountain, Clifton Down; where it appears to be quite at home among the hollies and thorn trees, and flowers copiously at the end of March. A Laurustinus is near at hand. It has been conjectured that these are relics from a garden attached to the old Clifton Turnpike that stood hard by; but persons who remember the Toll-house say that it had no garden". It was later found at Penpole Point and Shirehampton by H.S. Thompson (Sandwith, 1932). Last seen here in 1955 by ?.

[check also BSBI record as it appears to have last been recorded at a later date]

FRANGULA Mill.

  • Frangula alnus Mill. (ssp. alnus) (Alder Buckthorn) /- Woodland Rare As a native very rare in hedges, woodland and wet thickets on the peat soil of the Levels and Moors near Congresbury, the Gordano Valley and Kenn Moor but it is also widely planted elsewhere.

CEANOTHUS L.

  • Ceanothus thyrsiflorus (Bluebush / Californian Lilac) General Very Rare Widely grown for ornament and hedging. Recorded at Greenbank Cemetery in 2023 by ? and a young self-seeded plant was found at the base of a wall on Kersteman Road, Redland, Bristol in 2025 by D. Peters.

[only recorded at genus level but this is the widely grown plant]

List:

  • Hippophae rhamnoides L. (ssp. rhamnoides - Kew, GBIF) (Sea-buckthorn) / Coasts
  • Elaeagnus angustifolia L. (Oleaster)
  • Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb. (var. umbellata - Kew, GBIF) (Spreading Oleaster)
  • Elaeagnus macrophylla Thunb. (Broad-leaved Oleaster) - 1 BSBI record
  • Elaeagnus macrophylla x E. pungens = E. x submacrophylla Servett. (Ebbinge's Oleaster) - 2 BSBI records
  • Rhamnus cathartica L. (var. cathartica - Kew, GBIF) (Buckthorn) / Woodland
  • Rhamnus alaternus L. (ssp. alaternus - Kew, GBIF) (Mediterranean Buckthorn)
  • Frangula alnus Mill. (ssp. alnus - Kew, GBIF) (Alder Buckthorn) /- Woodland
  • Ceanothus thyrsiflorus (Bluebush / Californian Lilac) - [only recorded at genus level but this is the widely grown plant]

Species to add:

  • Elaeagnus angustifolia L. (Oleaster)
  • Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb. (var. umbellata - Kew, GBIF) (Spreading Oleaster)
  • Elaeagnus macrophylla Thunb. (Broad-leaved Oleaster) - 1 BSBI record
  • Elaeagnus macrophylla x E. pungens = E. x submacrophylla Servett. (Ebbinge's Oleaster) - 2 BSBI records
  • Ceanothus thyrsiflorus (Bluebush / Californian Lilac) - [only recorded at genus level but this is the widely grown plant]
  • Rhamnus alaternus L. (ssp. alaternus - Kew, GBIF) (Mediterranean Buckthorn)