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Elaeagnus pungens

(Pungent Elaeagnus)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in Chinese:

Hu Tui Zi

Common Names in English:

Pungent Elaeagnus, Golden Elaeagnus, Silverberry, Silverthorn, Thorny Elaeagnus, Thorny Olive

Common Names in German:

Dornige ölweide

Common Names in Japanese:

Nawashiro-Gumi

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 pungens

Shrubs , evergreen , 3-4 m tall, densely branched. Spines frequent; young branches densely brown scaly . Petiole robust , 5-15 mm, rugose , brown scaly; leaf blade oblong to narrowly so, 5-10 × 1.8-3.5 cm, leathery, abaxially with dense whitish and usually also brown scales , adaxially glabrous and glossy, lateral veins 7-9 per side of midrib , base rounded , margin obsoletely toothed with prominently undulate margins, apex obtuse to bluntly acute. Flowers few, clustered in axils. Pedicel 5-8 mm, brown scaly. Calyx tube funnelform , rather broad, 6-7 mm, abruptly narrowed at base; lobes ovate , ca. 1/2 as long as tube, apex rounded. Drupe oblong, 1.2-1.5 cm, brown scaly. Fl. Sep-Dec, fr. Apr-Jun. [source]

Habit: Shrub

Flowers: Bloom Period: April, May. • Flower Color: yellow

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 4-6' tall.

Habitat

Open slopes , roadsides or thickets, often near the sea; below 1000 m. [source]

Typically found in the intertidal zone at the water's edge at a mean distance from sea level of 141 meters (464 feet).[3]

Biome: Coastal.

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 8-10' apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Notes

Publishing author : Thunb. Publication : Syst. Veg., ed. 14 (J. A. Murray). 164 1784 [May-Jun 1784]

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

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 14, 2007:

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. Standard Deviation = 281.750 based on 35 observations. Terrestrial altitude and ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/14/2012