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Elaeagnus
angustifolia (Russian Olive) Elaeagnaceae (Oleaster Family) Foothills, montane.
Streamsides, disturbed areas, fields. Late spring/early summer. Russian Olive, no relation to Olive trees, is a widely spread non-native species that often chokes out native plants -- especially along streams. But it is a handsome 25-50 foot tall tree with silvery green foliage, a super abundance of redolent yellow flowers, and so much gray/green fruit that branches droop until birds gorge themselves and unburden the branches. The photograph at left shows the silvery green leaves dotted with numerous white clusters of fruit. "Elaeo" is Greek for "olive" and "agnos" for "chaste" (since the fruits are not humanly edible). "Angustifolia" is Latin for "narrow-leaved". Linnaeus described this plant from Eurasian collections in his 1753 Species Plantarum. |
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Elaeagnus
angustifolia (Russian Olive) Elaeagnaceae (Oleaster Family) Foothills, montane.
Streamsides, disturbed areas, fields. Late spring/early summer. The tiny yellow flowers carry a very big sweet scent for the entire month of June. |
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Elaeagnus
angustifolia
(Russian Olive) Elaeagnaceae (Oleaster Family) Foothills, montane.
Streamsides, disturbed areas, fields. Late spring/early summer. Leaves are downy hairy, young twigs are reddish brown, and older bark is longitudinally furrowed. Older branches have stout spines. Wood is dense. |
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Elaeagnus
angustifolia (Russian Olive) Elaeagnaceae (Oleaster Family) Foothills, montane.
Streamsides, disturbed areas, fields. Late spring/early summer. This fruit-ladened branch means good eating for many birds in the fall. The very firm fruit, mostly seed, is eaten whole by most birds, but some smaller birds scrape the pulp. |
Range map © John Kartesz,
County Color Key
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Range map for Elaeagnus angustifolia |