Elaeagnus commutata

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Elaeagnus commutata
Elaeagnus commutata USDA.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Elaeagnaceae
Genus: Elaeagnus
Species:
E. commutata
Binomial name
Elaeagnus commutata
Synonyms [2]
  • Elaeagnus argentea Nutt. (1818)
  • Elaeagnus argentea Pursh (1813)
  • Elaeagnus glabra K.Koch (1872)
  • Elaeagnus veteris-castelli Lepage (1955)
  • Shepherdia argentea Schltdl. (1857)

Elaeagnus commutata, the silverberry [3] or wolf-willow, is a species of Elaeagnus native to western and boreal North America, from southern Alaska through British Columbia east to Quebec, south to Utah, and across the upper Midwestern United States to South Dakota and western Minnesota. [4] [5] It typically grows on dry to moist sandy and gravel soils in steppes, meadows or woodland edges. [6]

Contents

Description

These plants are fast-growing [7] shrubs or small trees growing to 1–4 meters tall and 2-5 meters width. The leaves are broad lanceolate, 2–7 cm long, silvery on both sides with dense small white scales. The fragrant flowers are yellow, with a four-lobed corolla 6–14 mm long. The fruits are ovoid drupes 9–12 mm long, also covered in silvery scales. The fruit pulp is floury in texture, and surrounds the single seed. [6] [8] [ full citation needed ]

Use and consumption

The species is cultivated as an ornamental plant for its silvery foliage.

Both the fruit and seeds of this plant are edible either cooked or raw. The fruit is very astringent unless it is fully ripe. The fruit is a very rich source of vitamins and minerals especially A, C, and E. It is also a fairly good source of essential fatty acids — these fats are rarely found in fruits. [9] [ full citation needed ] This plant, like legumes, is able to fix nitrogen. When grown in orchards as a companion plant, it has been documented to increase fruit production by ten percent. Traditionally the fibrous bark of this tree has been twisted to make strong ropes, and woven into clothing and blankets [9] [ full citation needed ]

Sharp tailed grouse and songbirds eat the fruits. [10] This plant is a food source for sharp tailed grouse in the winter. [11] Silverberry is an important food for wildlife and it provides over one quarter of the diet for moose during winter in Montana. It also provides food for deer and elk. It provides cover and nesting sites for mallards and many passerine birds in North Dakota [12] "In rough fescue grasslands, silverberry at 1,000 stems per acre increases forage production." [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Elaeagnus umbellata</i> Species of flowering plant

Elaeagnus umbellata is known as Japanese silverberry, umbellata oleaster, autumn olive, autumn elaeagnus, spreading oleaster, autumnberry, or autumn berry. The species is indigenous to eastern Asia and ranges from the Himalayas eastwards to Japan. It is a hardy, aggressive invasive species able to readily colonize barren land, becoming a troublesome plant in the central and northeastern United States and Europe.

<i>Elaeagnus angustifolia</i> Species of flowering plant

Elaeagnus angustifolia, commonly called Russian olive, silver berry, oleaster, or wild olive, is a species of Elaeagnus, native to western and central Asia, Iran, from southern Russia and Kazakhstan to Turkey, parts of Pakistan and parts of India. It is widely established in North America as an introduced species.

<i>Elaeagnus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Elaeagnaceae

Elaeagnus, silverberry or oleaster, is a genus of about 50–70 species of flowering plants in the family Elaeagnaceae.

<i>Physocarpus</i> Genus of flowering plants

Physocarpus, commonly called ninebark, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae, native to North America and northeastern Asia.

<i>Elaeagnus multiflora</i> Species of flowering plant

Elaeagnus multiflora, the cherry elaeagnus, cherry silverberry, goumi, gumi, or natsugumi, is a species of Elaeagnus native to China, Korea, and Japan.

<i>Strychnos spinosa</i> Species of tree

Strychnos spinosa, the Natal orange, also called Mokotra in Madagascar, is a tree indigenous to tropical and subtropical Africa. It produces sweet-sour, yellow fruits, containing numerous hard brown seeds. Greenish-white flowers grow in dense heads at the ends of branches. The fruits tend to appear only after good rains. It is related to the deadly Strychnos nux-vomica, which contains strychnine. The smooth, hard fruit are large and green, ripen to yellow colour. Inside the fruit are tightly packed seeds, which may be toxic, surrounded by a fleshy, brown, edible covering.

<i>Shepherdia argentea</i> Species of Shepherdia

Shepherdia argentea, commonly called silver buffaloberry, bull berry, or thorny buffaloberry, is a species of Shepherdia in the Oleaster family.

<i>Sambucus racemosa</i> Species of plant

Sambucus racemosa is a species of elderberry known by the common names red elderberry and red-berried elder.

<i>Symplocos tinctoria</i> Species of plant

Symplocos tinctoria is a deciduous or evergreen shrub or tree. It is recognized by pith of twigs chambered; by foliage not notably aromatic when bruised, leaves finely hairy beneath. Shrubs or trees to 17 m tall by 36 cm diameter at breast height. The largest first-year twigs are under 3 mm across, terminal buds with acute tip, scales ciliate. Leaves are 7–15 cm long, margin entire or occasionally some teeth on the apical half, with a sweet taste that may be faint in old leaves. It is conspicuous when in flower; flowers opening before new leaves develop, fragrant, in clusters from axils of previous year's leaves or from just above the leaf scars if the leaves have fallen; the petals are creamy yellow to yellow, with one pistil. Fruits nearly cylindrical to ellipsoid drupes 8–12 mm long, with thin pulp and a hard stone containing one seed; the tip usually retaining parts of the sepals. Foliage is relished by browsing wildlife. A yellow dye may be obtained from bark and leaves. It flowers March to May.

<i>Ribes roezlii</i> Species of flowering plant

Ribes roezlii is a North American species of gooseberry known by the common name Sierra gooseberry.

<i>Symphoricarpos albus</i> Species of flowering plant

Symphoricarpos albus is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common name common snowberry. Native to North America, it is browsed by some animals and planted for ornamental and ecological purposes, but is poisonous to humans.

<i>Ilex cornuta</i> Species of holly

Ilex cornuta, commonly known as Chinese holly or horned holly, is a slow-growing, densely foliaged evergreen shrub in the Aquifoliaceae plant family. It is native to eastern China and Korea and attains a height of about 3 metres (9.8 ft). The leaves are usually 5-spined, between 3.5 cm and 10 cm long, oblong and entire. The fruits are red berries, which are larger than those of the European Holly.

<i>Elaeagnus pungens</i> Species of flowering plant

Elaeagnus pungens is a species of flowering plant in the family Elaeagnaceae, known by the common names thorny olive, spiny oleaster and silverthorn; also by the family name "oleaster". It is native to Asia, including China and Japan. It is present in the southeastern United States as an introduced species, a common landscaping and ornamental plant, and sometimes an invasive species.

<i>Rubus canadensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Rubus canadensis is a North American species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names smooth blackberry, Canadian blackberry, thornless blackberry and smooth highbush blackberry. It is native to central and eastern Canada and the eastern United States.

<i>Symphoricarpos oreophilus</i> Species of flowering plant

Symphoricarpos oreophilus is a North American species of flowering plant in the Caprifoliaceae, or honeysuckle family, known by the common name mountain snowberry. It has a wide distribution in western Canada, the United States, and northwestern Mexico. It is found in mountainous areas such as the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada, the Rockies, and the Sierra Madre Occidental from British Columbia to the Copper Canyon region of Chihuahua, from the coastal states as far inland as the Black Hills, the Oklahoma Panhandle, and trans-Pecos Texas.

<i>Urera baccifera</i> Species of shrub or a small tree

Urera baccifera is a species of flowering plant in the nettle family known by many common names, including scratchbush, ortiga brava, pringamoza, mala mujer, chichicaste, nigua, guaritoto, ishanga, manman guêpes, and urtiga bronca. It is native to the Americas from Mexico through Central America into South America, as well as the Caribbean.

<i>Salix eleagnos</i> Species of flowering plant

Salix eleagnos the bitter willow, olive willow, hoary willow, rosemary willow, or elaeagnus willow, is a species of flowering plant in the family Salicaceae, native to central and southern Europe and south west Asia. Growing to 3 m (10 ft) tall by 5 m (16 ft) broad, it is an erect bushy deciduous shrub with narrow grey-green leaves up to 20 cm (8 in) long, which turn yellow in autumn (fall). The green catkins, 3–6 cm (1–2 in) long, appear with the leaves in spring, male catkins having yellow anthers.

<i>Euonymus hamiltonianus</i> Species of flowering plant

Euonymus hamiltonianus, known by the common names Hamilton's spindletree, Himalayan spindle, and Siebold's spindle is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae. It is native to Asia, where it is distributed in Afghanistan, Russia, China, Japan, Korea, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, Thailand, and Myanmar. This is one of the most common Euonymus species. It is cultivated in gardens and landscapes in other parts of the world.

<i>Rhus lanceolata</i> Species of tree

Rhus lanceolata, the prairie sumac, is a species of plant native to the south-western United States, and northern Mexico.

References

  1. NatureServe (2024). "Elaeagnus commutata". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  2. "Elaeagnus commutata Bernh. ex Rydb". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  3. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Elaeagnus commutata". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  4. "Elaeagnus commutata". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  5. "Elaeagnus commutata". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  6. 1 2 Plants of British Columbia: Elaeagnus commutata Archived 2017-10-16 at the Wayback Machine
  7. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Elaeagnus commutata". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  8. https://en.hortipedia.com/Elaeagnus_commutata
  9. 1 2 "Elaeagnus commutata Silverberry PFAF Plant Database".
  10. Petrides, George A. (1998). A Field Guide to Western Trees: Western United States and Canada . Houghton Mifflin. ISBN   9780395904541.
  11. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-23. Retrieved 2015-05-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. Esser, Lora L. (1994). "Elaeagnus commutata". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.
  13. Bailey, Arthur W. (1970). "Barrier effect of the shrub Elaeagnus commutata on grazing cattle and forage production in central Alberta". Journal of Range Management. 23 (4): 248–251. doi:10.2307/3896214. hdl: 10150/647549 . JSTOR   3896214. [23669]