Hand me down Elaeagnus

[ABCarve]

New pot....slight haircut.....wire. This may actually turn into something. I was going to give it away.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Looking good.

 

[ABCarve]

After separating the air layer in mid-June last year, this whole tree has developed from two adventitious buds that formed after the separation (one growing season). One is the main trunk above the old trunk. The second is the first branch on the left. Amazing vigor!! I leave the wire tails long so I can keep wrapping as the branch extends. This was partially leaf pruned in late June. Only the leaves that were at the base of each primary and secondary branches. Hope I can get some flowers!!

 

[canadianlights]

Wow! Amazing progress.

 

[roberthu]

Elaeagnus angustifolia - Russian olive. Flowers early summer, fruit ripe in autumn, leaves have Willow leaf shape, very glaucous, very rough black bark on mature trees. Incredibly cold hardy.

Elaeagnus umbellata - autumn olive, leaves with wavy margin, very fragrant flowers spring, from leaf axils along length of previous year's growth. Brown speckled with silver fruit ripens after autumn equinox (typically). Fruit tends to be dry, thin layer of very tart, almost cherry flavor flesh. Seed is soft, easily chewed, with a mild nutty flavor. Too dry to be very tasty for out of hand eating. Very cold hardy, thru zone 4.

Elaeagnus multiflora - goumi berry sometimes also called autumn olive. Larger, more fleshy, better tasting fruit than E umbellata. Fruit is more red color, umbellata is more a speckled brown. Fruit does have fine silver spots, but less conspicuous than umbellata, overall fruit looks more red. Fragrant flowers in spring, leaf axils along length of previous year's growth. Usually fruit is ripe before autumnal equinox. There's some overlap with umbellata, but not much. Hardy thru zone 6 into zone 5, at least 5b, maybe 5a.


Elaeagnus pungens - thorny silver berry, goumi ( fruit) Japanese silverberry, autumn olive. This is not as winter hardy as above, typically only zone 7 hardy. This is the silverberry most often used by Japanese for bonsai. Fragrant flowers in autumn, fruit ripens over winter usually ripe middle or late spring, early summer. Fruit similar to multiflora, maybe slightly larger.

E. Ebbingii (pungens x macrophylla) select cultivars have variegated leaves. Does not make the abundant fruit of species elaeagnus.

Just bought two ebbingii at a local nursery for $13 each. Going to see if they flower at all this fall.

 

[coh]

After separating the air layer in mid-June last year, this whole tree has developed from two adventitious buds that formed after the separation (one growing season). One is the main trunk above the old trunk. The second is the first branch on the left. Amazing vigor!! I leave the wire tails long so I can keep wrapping as the branch extends. This was partially leaf pruned in late June. Only the leaves that were at the base of each primary and secondary branches. Hope I can get some flowers!!

That's really coming along nicely. Just did some major work on mine, so I'm probably not going to get many (if any) flowers this year but we'll see.

 

[ABCarve]

That's really coming along nicely. Just did some major work on mine, so I'm probably not going to get many (if any) flowers this year but we'll see.

Thanks....I’ve done some light pruning but I ain’t touching now even if it gets a little shaggy. The flower fragrance is worth the price of admission.

 

[ABCarve]

Elaeagnus angustifolia - Russian olive. Flowers early summer, fruit ripe in autumn, leaves have Willow leaf shape, very glaucous, very rough black bark on mature trees. Incredibly cold hardy.

Elaeagnus umbellata - autumn olive, leaves with wavy margin, very fragrant flowers spring, from leaf axils along length of previous year's growth. Brown speckled with silver fruit ripens after autumn equinox (typically). Fruit tends to be dry, thin layer of very tart, almost cherry flavor flesh. Seed is soft, easily chewed, with a mild nutty flavor. Too dry to be very tasty for out of hand eating. Very cold hardy, thru zone 4.

Elaeagnus multiflora - goumi berry sometimes also called autumn olive. Larger, more fleshy, better tasting fruit than E umbellata. Fruit is more red color, umbellata is more a speckled brown. Fruit does have fine silver spots, but less conspicuous than umbellata, overall fruit looks more red. Fragrant flowers in spring, leaf axils along length of previous year's growth. Usually fruit is ripe before autumnal equinox. There's some overlap with umbellata, but not much. Hardy thru zone 6 into zone 5, at least 5b, maybe 5a.


Elaeagnus pungens - thorny silver berry, goumi ( fruit) Japanese silverberry, autumn olive. This is not as winter hardy as above, typically only zone 7 hardy. This is the silverberry most often used by Japanese for bonsai. Fragrant flowers in autumn, fruit ripens over winter usually ripe middle or late spring, early summer. Fruit similar to multiflora, maybe slightly larger.

E. Ebbingii (pungens x macrophylla) select cultivars have variegated leaves. Does not make the abundant fruit of species elaeagnus.

So Leo..... I'm trying to lock down a variety for this thing. I thought (mistakenly) it was pungens, but now I understand they have thorns. This is evergreen and thornless with light colored belly of the leaf. Shall I assume ebbingei? Can "variegated leaves" mean spotted? Not getting much descriptive stuff in searches. @JudyB do you know the specific variety for yours?

 

[JudyB]

This is a description I found for Pungens. That is what I have and the description below is spot on for it.

Elaeagnus pungens, commonly called thorny elaeagnus or silverthorn, is native to China and Japan. It is a large, sprawling, durable, broad-leaved evergreen shrub that typically grows to 12-15' tall. Young branchlets are covered with brown scales. Branchlets are usually spiny. Wavy-margined, elliptic to oblong leaves (to 3.5" long) are lustrous green above but silvery-white and dotted with tiny brown scales below. Small, apetalous, bell-shaped, creamy white flowers (to 1/4" long) bloom in axillary clusters in late fall (October-November). Flowers are not particularly showy, but are intensely fragrant (some suggest gardenia-scented). Small, one-seeded, reddish-brown fruits (drupes to 1/2" long) typically ripen in spring (late March-May). Fruits are technically edible, but perhaps best left for the birds.

Mine does not have a ton of thorns, but I have seen several. The new leaves are lighter in color then they turn greener with summer, at least on the top of the leaf. The bottom remains silver all year.

 

[ABCarve]

This is a description I found for Pungens. That is what I have and the description below is spot on for it.

Elaeagnus pungens, commonly called thorny elaeagnus or silverthorn, is native to China and Japan. It is a large, sprawling, durable, broad-leaved evergreen shrub that typically grows to 12-15' tall. Young branchlets are covered with brown scales. Branchlets are usually spiny. Wavy-margined, elliptic to oblong leaves (to 3.5" long) are lustrous green above but silvery-white and dotted with tiny brown scales below. Small, apetalous, bell-shaped, creamy white flowers (to 1/4" long) bloom in axillary clusters in late fall (October-November). Flowers are not particularly showy, but are intensely fragrant (some suggest gardenia-scented). Small, one-seeded, reddish-brown fruits (drupes to 1/2" long) typically ripen in spring (late March-May). Fruits are technically edible, but perhaps best left for the birds.

Mine does not have a ton of thorns, but I have seen several. The new leaves are lighter in color then they turn greener with summer, at least on the top of the leaf. The bottom remains silver all year.

Thank you for the detailed response!! This description fits mine perfectly, EXCEPT, I haven't seen anything that even resembles a thorn. I guess that's what is making me second guess this. Do you think it could be some mutation that someone propagated?

 

[coh]

Mine (which I'm almost certain is pungens) doesn't have thorns either. I think they may form thorns from older branches - not thorns like you get on a BRT, but more like what you can get on crabapples. Those small spur branches can sometimes develop sharp points like thorns. So if they're kept pruned back maybe they don't form many of those "thorns."

 

[JudyB]

Thank you for the detailed response!! This description fits mine perfectly, EXCEPT, I haven't seen anything that even resembles a thorn. I guess that's what is making me second guess this. Do you think it could be some mutation that someone propagated?

Yours certainly appears to be pungens. As I said, I've only seen a few on mine in the time I've had it.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I think yours is pungens. Leaves of ebbingii tend to be larger.

These have been selected as garden plants, so you could have a less thorny cultivar. Maybe even thornless.

Honey locust did not become a popular landscape tree until thornless and seedless cultivars were discovered. Now they are everywhere, to the point where some forgot they ever had thorns.

 

[ABCarve]

Starting to fill in. Going to let the lower left silhouette of the tree extend a bit more. Flowering is still pretty sparse.

 

[HorseloverFat]

Elaeagnus is one of my favorites... We get Umbellata and Augustifolia around me.

They put on GIRTH in my climate, take over entire areas and are a real problem, actually...

DNR encourages removal from public lands.

 

[ABCarve]

Elaeagnus is one of my favorites... We get Umbellata and Augustifolia around me.

They put on GIRTH in my climate, take over entire areas and are a real problem, actually...

DNR encourages removal from public lands.

You better go collecting and help out the DNR! You could be very discriminating with your choice.

 

[ABCarve]