Elaeagnus umbellata

Elaeagnus umbellata, also referred to as Japanese silverberry, umbellate oleaster or autumn-olive, is a species of Elaeagnus native to eastern Asia from the Himalayas east to Japan. Because airborne nitrogen can be fixed in its roots, it has the capability to grow in infertile habitats.

These plants are deciduous shrubs or small trees growing 3.5 m tall, with a dense, thorny crown.^[1] The leaves are alternate, 4–10 cm long and 2–4 cm wide, entire but with a wavy margin. The leaves are silvery when they leaf out early in spring due to numerous tiny scales, but turn greener above as the scales wear off through the summer (unlike the related E. angustifolia, which remains silvery to leaf fall). The flowers are clustered 1-7 together in the leaf axils, fragrant, with a four-lobed pale yellowish-white 1 cm long corolla. The fruit is a round drupe 1/4 to 1/3 inches (0.65 to 0.85 cm) long,^[2] silvery-scaled yellow, ripening to red dotted with silver or brown.

When ripe, the fruit is juicy and edible, and works well as a dried fruit. It is small but abundantly produced, tart-tasting, and has a chewable seed. These fruits have been shown to have from 7 to 17 times the amount of the antioxidant lycopene than tomatoes have.^[3]

Elaeagnus umbellata is considered an invasive species in various parts of North America where it is naturalized.^[4][5]

Gallery

References

External links

• Elaeagnus umbellata images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu