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Elaeagnus jiangxiensis

Interesting Facts

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Description

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Family Elaeagnaceae

Trees or shrubs , deciduous or evergreen ; most parts with distinctive silvery or brownish peltate scales and/or stellate hairs , sometimes branches spine-tipped. Leaves alternate, opposite, or whorled ; stipules absent; petiole usually present, sometimes short; leaf blade often leathery, simple , margin entire or subentire , abaxially densely stellate-hairy or peltate-scaly, pinnately veined. Flowers solitary or in clusters or short racemes , actinomorphic , bisexual , or unisexual (plants dioecious) . Calyx in bisexual and female flowers tubular , 2-6(-8) -lobed, male flowers of Hippophae of 2 membranous sepals. Petals absent. Stamens 4-8, free , adnate to calyx tube, in male flowers 2 × as many as the lobes , in bisexual flowers as many as the lobes and alternate with them. Ovary superior but tightly enclosed in differentiated basal part of calyx and apparently inferior, 1-loculed; style elongate , stigma lateral . Ovule 1, basal, anatropous . Fruit drupelike, indehiscent, enclosed in base of calyx tube and containing a single seed.

Three genera and ca. 90 species: N temperate and tropical regions ; two genera and 74 species (59 endemic) in China.

The fruits of many members of this family are edible, and some species of both Elaeagnus and Hippophae are widely utilized and sometimes cultivated as fruit trees. They are a particularly good source of Vitamin C. Several species are also grown as ornamental garden shrubs. The roots are able to fix atmospheric nitrogen making it possible for plants to grow well on very poor soils. For this reason, some species, most notably Elaeagnus angustifolia, have been used for land reclamation.[1]

Genus Elaeagnus

Shrubs , sometimes climbing , or small trees , deciduous or evergreen , sometimes spiny . Leaves alternate, petiolate , blade margin usually entire. Flowers bisexual , clustered on short axillary shoots , sometimes solitary. Calyx tubular , 4-lobed, constricted above ovary and breaking at constriction as fruit develops; lobes usually spreading , deciduous, white or yellow inside. Stamens 4, inserted in mouth of calyx tube, alternate with lobes. Style linear , not exserted. Drupe globose or ellipsoid , rarely longitudinally winged (E. mollis) ; stone usually 8-ribbed, with a large straight embryo.

About 90 species: Asia, S Europe, North America; 67 species (55 endemic) in China.

Many taxa are separated only by quantitative characters, and better information on population variation is likely to lead to a significant reduction in the number of species recognized. Indeed, recent studies (Du, Fl. Yunnan. 12: 749-776. 2006) suggest that some species of Elaeagnus should be combined.[2]

Physical Description

Species Elaeagnus jiangxiensis

Shrubs , deciduous or semievergreen, ca. 2 m tall. Old branches with short conic spines; young branches with dense pale to dark brown stellate hairs , many long stipitate . Petiole 5-7 mm, with stellate hairs; leaf blade abaxially grayish green, adaxially drying dull green, ovate , 3.5-6 × 2-3 cm, thickly papery , abaxially stellate-tomentose, hairs mostly white and subsessile , some pale brown and stipitate, adaxially stellate-tomentose when young, later glabrous , lateral veins 3-5 per side of midrib , inconspicuously raised abaxially, deeply impressed adaxially, base rounded , margin entire, apex acuminate. Flowers often 1-7, subumbellate, in axils of long shoots and 2-8 in a shortened raceme on short branches. Fruiting pedicel with sessile scales and scattered shortly stipitate hairs, 1.5-1.8 cm. Flowers white, with white and brown stellate hairs. Calyx tube ca. 9.5 mm; lobes ovate-oblong, ca. 5.5 × 3 mm, with sparse white stellate hairs. Filaments very short; anthers oblong , ca. 1.3 mm. Style erect , glabrous. Immature drupe narrowly elliptic , 1-1.2 cm; scales dense, brown, irregularly lobed with toothed margin, also sparsely stipitate-hairy. Fl. Apr, fr. Jun. [source]

Flowers: Bloom Period: April.

Habitat

By streams in valleys.[3].

Taxonomy

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Notes

Publishing author : C.Y.Chang Publication : Bull . Bot. Lab. N. E. Forest . Inst., Harbin 1980(6): 118 1980

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Elaeagnus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 20 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

E. angustifolia (Oleaster) · E. angustifolia 'Quicksilver' (Silver Russian Olive) · E. commutata (American Silverberry) · E. latifolia (Wild Olive) · E. multiflora (Cherry Silver-Berry) · E. orientalis (Oriental Olive) · E. orientalis 'King Red' (Silver Russian Olive) · E. philippinensis (Lingaro) · E. pungens (Pungent Elaeagnus) · E. pungens 'Fruitlandii' (Fruitland Silverberry) · E. pungens 'Glen St. Mary' (Golden Elaeagnus) · E. pungens 'Maculata' (Golden Elaeagnus) · E. rhamnoides (Common Seabuckthorn) · E. umbellata (Autumn Elaeangus) · E. umbellata Thunb. var. parvifolia (Royle) Schneid. (Autumn Olive) · E. umbellata var. parvifolia (Autumn Olive) · E. umbellatus (Oleaster) · E. x ebbingei 'Eleador' (Ebbinges Silverberry) · E. x ebbingei 'Gilt Edge' (Ebbinges Silverberry) · E. x ebbingei 'Limelight' (Ebbinges Silverberry)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Haining Qin & Michael G. Gilbert "Elaeagnaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 251. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Elaeagnus". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 251. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. "Elaeagnus jiangxiensis". in Flora of China Vol. 13 Page 252, 267. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/19/2012