English: Oil pasture plants; Willow family.
Genera: 3; Elaeagnus, Hippophae, Shepherdia; 50 to 100 species.
Region: northern hemisphere, eastern Australia.
Content: calcium oxalate crystals; tannins, vitamin C; alkaloids; proanthocyanidins, cyanidin and delphinidin; ellagic acid; saponins.
TaxonomyElaeagnaceae is an independent
Family in the
Apg3 classification and placed in the Order
Rosales.
Plant theoryIn the
Plant theory Elaeagnaceae is placed in
Rhamnaceae, in subphase 6 of the
Rosales.
BotanyThorny and drought-resistant shrubs.
Leaves: alternate or spirally arranged, rarely opposite or whorled; petioles mostly present; short, simple, pinnately; often leathery; smooth margin; underside silvery to brown, shield-shaped cover; silvery; stipules absent.
Inflorescences: singly or in bundles, racemose
Flowers: hermaphrodite or unisexual and dioecious; radial; cruciform; fragrant; hypanthium long; sepals 4 to 8, fused.
Calyx: teeth are much longer than the calyx tube; white to cream to yellow.
Petals: absent.
Stamens; 4 to 8, fertile; very short, fused.
Female flowers: upper carpel with a single ovule; closely enveloped by the basal area of the calyx tube; long style ends in a lateral scar.
Pollination: by insects and wind.
Fruit: achene enveloped by the fleshy; berries or drupes, contain a single seed; intensely colored when ripe; eaten by birds and the seeds excreted undigested.
Chromosome numbers: 6, 10, 11, 13.