Elaeagnus umbellatus

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

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]

Taxonomy

Similar Species

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

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• Biltmore Nursery, Biltmorse, N.C. [North Carolina?: The Nursery?], c1912 url p. 66.
• Bulletin of the Natural History Museum. London: The Natural History Museum, c1993-2002. url p. 108, p. 127.
• Flora of the southeastern United States; being descriptions of the seed-plants, ferns and fern-allies growing naturally in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and in Oklahom by John Kunkel Small. New York, The author, 1913. url p. 819.
• Garden and forest; a journal of horticulture, landscape art and forestry. New York: The Garden and forest publishing co., 1888-97. url p. 263.
• Journal of the New York Botanical Garden. 37 1936 Lancaster, Pa.: Published for the Garden by the New Era Printing Co., 1900- url p. 299.
• Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 129.
• Select extra-tropical plants readily eligible for Victorian industrial culture or naturalisation with indications of their native countries and some of their uses / by Baron Ferd. von Mueller. Melbourne: J. Ferres, 1885. url p. 127.
• Select extra-tropical plants, readily eligible for industrial culture or naturalisation, with indications of their native countries and some of their uses. By Baron Ferd. von Mueller. .. Sydney, T. Richards, government printer, 1881. url p. 112.
• The Florists' exchange: a weekly medium of interchange for florists, nurserymen, seedsmen and the trade in general. New York, N.Y.: [A.T. De la Mare Ptg. and Pub. Co., url p. 1205.
• Chang Che-yung. 1983. Elaeagnaceae. In: Fang Wen-pei & Chang Che-yung, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 52(2): 1-66.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3461114
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 707294

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]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.