According to archeological records, Seabuckthorn has been around in the UK since- at least-- the pre-glacial period. Seabuckthorn is a hardy, and very thorny, pioneer plant that thrives in conditions where other plants cant survive due to salinity, temperature, altitude or soil pH. It is able to enrich the soil through its ability to fix nitrogen and its roots are excellent at capturing water run off. Despite being native to parts of South East Scotland its paleo-ethnobotany here has largely been lost in the mists of time...
Did you know: the Chinese Olympic team used Seabuckthorn as their official drink in the 2008 Beijing Olympics to boost their strength, endurance and overall health, with great success!
There was recorded use in Tibetan medicine as early as the 8th Century ..Seabuckthorn has since been used by Military Leaders (Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great) to fuel their armies, and horses, as they built their empires..
Seabuckthorn had a surge of interest from the the Russian Government (and military) from the mid-1900s and was used by Russian Cosmonauts on the first manned space mission due to its powerful antioxidant qualities. The Indian army also use Seabuckthorn to fuel high altitude operations.