Elaeagnus commutata

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Elaeagnus commutata
Elaeagnus commutata USDA.jpg
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [2]
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 [3]
  • 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 [4] 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. [5] [6] It typically grows on dry to moist sandy and gravel soils in steppes, meadows or woodland edges. [7]

Contents

Description

These plants are fast-growing [8] 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. [7] [9] [ 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. [10] [ 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 [10] [ full citation needed ]

Sharp tailed grouse and songbirds eat the fruits. [11] This plant is a food source for sharp tailed grouse in the winter. [12] 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 [13] "In rough fescue grasslands, silverberry at 1,000 stems per acre increases forage production." [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elaeagnaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Elaeagnaceae are a plant family, the oleaster family, of the order Rosales comprising small trees and shrubs, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, south into tropical Asia and Australia. The family has about 60 species in three genera.

<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 Asia and limited areas of eastern Europe. It is widely established in North America as an introduced species.

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

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

<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>Prunus americana</i> Species of tree

Prunus americana, commonly called the American plum, wild plum, or Marshall's large yellow sweet plum, is a species of Prunus native to North America from Saskatchewan and Idaho south to New Mexico and east to Québec, Maine and Florida.

<i>Sorbus americana</i> Species of tree

The tree species Sorbus americana is commonly known as the American mountain-ash. It is a deciduous perennial tree, native to eastern North America.

<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>Sorbus sitchensis</i> Species of plant

Sorbus sitchensis, commonly known as western mountain ash and Sitka mountain-ash, is a small species of shrub of north-western North America.

<i>Pyracantha angustifolia</i> Species of shrub

Pyracantha angustifolia is a species of shrub in the rose family known by the common names narrowleaf firethorn, slender firethorn and woolly firethorn. The flowers are white and produce small round pomes and can be orange to red in color. These fruits are astringent and bitter, making them inedible for humans, but they are a food source for birds. The leaves, fruit and seeds contain hydrogen cyanide, the source of the bitter taste. The stems and branches have sharp spines. This shrub is cultivated and grown in yards and gardens as an ornamental plant. It can be used to make hedges for home security. This species is native to China but has been introduced to North America and Australia. It is an invasive species in Hawaii and in other areas.

<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>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>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>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>Cornus rugosa</i> Species of flowering plant

Cornus rugosa, commonly called roundleaf dogwood or round-leaved dogwood, is a deciduous tree native to northern parts of the eastern and central United States and southern parts of central and eastern Canada.

References

  1. Maiz-Tome, L. (2016). "Elaeagnus commutata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T64311251A67729266. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T64311251A67729266.en . Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  2. NatureServe (2024). "Elaeagnus commutata". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  3. "Elaeagnus commutata Bernh. ex Rydb". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  4. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Elaeagnus commutata". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  5. "Elaeagnus commutata". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  6. "Elaeagnus commutata". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Elaeagnus commutata". Plants of British Columbia.
  8. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Elaeagnus commutata". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  9. "Hortipedia - Elaeagnus commutata".
  10. 1 2 "Elaeagnus commutata Silverberry PFAF Plant Database".
  11. Petrides, George A. (1998). A Field Guide to Western Trees: Western United States and Canada . Houghton Mifflin. ISBN   9780395904541.
  12. "Alberta's Sharp-tailed Grouse" (PDF). Alberta Conservation Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-04-23. Retrieved 2015-05-04.
  13. 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.
  14. 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]