Shrubs, deciduous, erect with branchlets spreading. New branches and buds silvery scaly. Petiole 3-8 mm; leaf blade obovate, 2.2-5.5 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, papery, abaxially densely white scaly, adaxially sparsely scaly when young, lateral veins 5-8 per side of midrib, base cuneate, apex acute to obtuse. Flowers 1-5-fasciculate in axils of both long and short shoots; pedicel 3-6 mm, to 1.2 cm in fruit. Flowers silvery white. Calyx tube funnel-shaped, 5-7 mm, slender; lobes triangular-ovate, 2.8-3 mm. Filaments ca. 0.7 mm; anthers elliptic, 1.8-2 mm. Style 6-7 mm, with stellate hairs; stigma ca. 2.2 mm. Drupe red, nearly globose, 8-9 mm. Seed ca. 7 mm.

Autumn Olive is an attractive shrub with silvery green foliage, fragrant flowers, and reddish fruits. Unfortunately, its highly invasive nature more than offsets its desirable characteristics. Autumn Olive can be distinguished from the closely related Elaeagnus angustifolia (Russian Olive) as follows: 1) the former has reddish fruits, while the latter has yellowish fruits, 2) the leaves of the former are somewhat broader than the latter, 3) in the former species, the spreading lobes of its flowers are shorter than the tubular portion of the calyces, while in the latter species they are about the same length, and 4) the former has both silver and brown scales, while the latter has silver scales only. Another shrubby species, Elaeagnus multiflora (Long-Stalked Oleaster), has longer pedicels than the preceding species when it is in fruit; these pedicels exceed ½" in length. However, Long-Stalked Oleaster has rarely naturalized in Illinois. All of these species are native to Europe or Asia.

This is a woody shrub about 10-20' tall that branches frequently; it is usually a little taller than wide. The central trunk on mature shrubs (if any) is short; it has gray bark that is split and furrowed. The bark of medium to large branches, in contrast, is gray-brown and relatively smooth. Young branches are silvery green to brown and covered with small scales. The alternate leaves are up to 3" long and 1¼" across; they are elliptic-oblong to ovate with smooth margins, blunt tips, and wedge-shaped to rounded bottoms. The upper surface of each leaf is light to medium green and slightly scaly; the lower surface is whitish green to white and densely covered with small silvery scales. The petiole of each leaf is relatively short and densely covered with silvery scales. Scales on the young branches, leaves, and petioles may turn brown with age. From the axils of the leaves, there develops small umbels of 1-4 flowers. Each flower has a tubular calyx about ½" long that is white or cream-colored and trumpet-shaped. This corolla-like calyx has 4 spreading lobes that are shorter than its tubular base. In addition to the calyx, each flower has 4 stamens, a single style, and no petals (nor true corolla). The short pedicel of each flower is up to ¼" long and covered with silvery scales. The blooming period occurs from late spring to early summer. The flowers have a sweet fragrance that is quite strong. After the blooming period, the flowers are replaced by drupe-like fruits that become mature during the fall. These fleshy fruits are silvery pink to bright red, about 1/3" long, and ovoid in shape. At the center of each fruit, there is a single large seed. The root system is woody. Cultivation: Autumn Olive prefers full to partial sun and moist to dry conditions. It adapts readily to many kinds of soil, including those that contain loam, clay-loam, sand, or gravelly material. This shrub tolerates soil with a high pH and greater than normal levels of salt; it also tolerates soil that is fairly acidic. Because of its adaptable nature and capacity to produce abundant fruit, this shrub is highly invasive and should not be planted in Illinois. To control this shrub, young saplings can be pulled up by the roots or dug out of the ground. More mature plants should be sawed down, then Garlon 4 should be applied to the stumps. Occasional fire and mowing are not very effective methods of control, as this shrub readily resprouts from its root system.

Elaeagnus higoensis Nakai:
Japan (Asia)

Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb.:
Afghanistan (Asia)
Bhutan (Asia)
Costa Rica (Mesoamerica)
India (Asia)
Japan (Asia)
Nepal (Asia)
South Korea (Asia)
United States (North America)
China (Asia)

Elaeagnus umbellata is occurring in Gansu, Hubei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang of China, Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Japan, Korea, Nepal, naturalized in North America.

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Global Range: Elaeagnus umbellata is native to China, Korea and Japan and was introduced to the United States for cultivation in 1830 (Rehder 1940). It occurs from Maine to New Jersey and Pennsylvania (Fernald 1950) and west to Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri (Holtz 1981).

Distribution: Japan, Assam, China, Afghanistan and the Himalayas from Kashmir to Bhutan.

Autumn Olive is occasional to locally common in many areas of Illinois (see Distribution Map). This shrub was deliberately introduced into Illinois and neighboring states to beautify highways, to function as a windbreak, to provide food and cover for wildlife, and various other reasons. Naturalized plants were first discovered in Illinois during the late 1960's, and it has since spread rapidly to other areas of the state. Because Autumn Olive is a relatively recent invasive species, it occurs in more counties than its distribution map indicates. This shrub is native to east Asia (e.g., China & Japan). Habitats include thin or open woodlands, savannas, woodland borders, abandoned fields, fence rows, and roadsides. Autumn Olive is a shrubby invader of meadows and prairies. This is one of the most invasive introduced shrubs in Illinois. A close relative, Elaeagnus angustifolia (Russian Olive), is also present in Illinois, but it is more invasive of drier areas in the Great Plains and western states.

Shrubs, deciduous, erect with branchlets spreading. New branches and buds silvery scaly. Petiole 3-5(-10) mm; leaf blade obovate, 2.2-5.5(-8) × 1-1.6(-2.5) cm, papery, abaxially densely white scaly, adaxially sparsely scaly when young, lateral veins 5-8 per side of midrib, base cuneate, apex acute to obtuse. Flowers 1-3(-7)-fasciculate in axils of both long and short shoots; pedicel 3-6(-8) mm, to 1.2 cm in fruit. Flowers silvery white. Calyx tube funnel-shaped, 5-7 mm, slender; lobes triangular-ovate, 2.8-3 mm. Filaments ca. 0.7 mm; anthers elliptic, 1.8-2 mm. Style 6-7 mm, with stellate hairs; stigma ca. 2.2 mm. Drupe red, nearly globose, (6-)8-9 mm. Seed ca. 7 mm. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jul-Aug. 2n = 28*.

A small tree or shrub, often spiny. Shoots covered with peltate scales. Leaves 2-9 cm long, 0.8-3 cm broad, elliptic-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, obtuse or acute, dull green above, with peltate and stellate hairs, lower surface sometimes with ferruginous scales. Petiole 2-6 mm long. Flowers in axillary clusters of 2-4. Pedicel 3.5-6.5 mm long. Perianth tube 0.8-1 cm long, tubular; tepals 4, ovate, 2.5 mm long, yellow inside; anthers subsessile, c. 2 mm long; style 7-10 mm long, stellately hairy. Fruit 8-9 mm long, elliptic-ovoid, succulent, covered with scales when young; endocarp not hard, 8-ribbed, woolly within.

A deciduous tree or shrub with fragrant yellow flowers. Common in the Himalayas in dry exposed places from 1000-3300 m. It is also cultivated. The fruit is edible. The following specimens, without flowers and fruit and with the habit of Elaeagnus umbellatus Thunb., but leaves with dense soft pubescence on the under surfaces, may with further material represent a different taxon. They have been provisionally placed here.

A-7 Gilgit: cult., R.R. Stewart s.n., p.p. (RAW); C-6 Kurram: Parachinar, R.R. Stewart 28038 (RAW).

Elaeagnus convexolepidota Hayata; E. coreana H. Léveillé; E. crispa Thunberg; E. crocea Nakai; E. fragrans Nakai; E. higoensis Nakai; E. longipes A. Gray var. crispa (Thunberg) Maximowicz; E. obovata H. L. Li; E. parvifolia Wallich ex Royle; E. salicifolia D. Don ex Loudon; E. umbellata var. coreana (H. Léveillé) H. Léveillé; E. umbellata f. parvifolia (Wallich ex Royle) Kitamura; E. umbellata subsp. parvifolia (Wallich ex Royle) Servettaz; E. umbellata var. parvifolia (Wallich ex Royle) C. K. Schneider.

Elaeagnus umbellata is close relative of Elaeagnus magna, but differs from the latter in its 5-7 mm (vs. 8-10 mm) calyx tube.

Growing in thickets; 500-3000 m.

Comments: Elaeagnus umbellata grows well on a variety of soils including sandy, loamy, and somewhat clayey textures with a pH range of 4.8-6.5 (Holtz 1981). It apparently does not grow as well on very wet or dry sites (Allan and Steiner 1965), but Sharp (1977) described it as having excellent tolerance to drought. It does very well on infertile soils because its root nodules house nitrogen-fixing actinomycetes (Sternberg 1982). Mature trees tolerate light shade, but produce more fruits in full sun, and seedlings may be shade intolerant (Holtz 1981, Nestleroad et al. 1984).

Thickets; (100-)500-3000 m. Gansu, Hubei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Japan, Korea, Nepal; naturalized in North America].

Autumn Olive is occasional to locally common in many areas of Illinois (see Distribution Map). This shrub was deliberately introduced into Illinois and neighboring states to beautify highways, to function as a windbreak, to provide food and cover for wildlife, and various other reasons. Naturalized plants were first discovered in Illinois during the late 1960's, and it has since spread rapidly to other areas of the state. Because Autumn Olive is a relatively recent invasive species, it occurs in more counties than its distribution map indicates. This shrub is native to east Asia (e.g., China & Japan). Habitats include thin or open woodlands, savannas, woodland borders, abandoned fields, fence rows, and roadsides. Autumn Olive is a shrubby invader of meadows and prairies. This is one of the most invasive introduced shrubs in Illinois. A close relative, Elaeagnus angustifolia (Russian Olive), is also present in Illinois, but it is more invasive of drier areas in the Great Plains and western states.

Foodplant / pathogen
Tubercularia anamorph of Nectria cinnabarina infects and damages branch of Elaeagnus umbellata
Remarks: season: 1-12

The flowers are primarily insect-pollinated. Based on their floral structure, likely pollinators include bees, butterflies, and moths (especially Sphinx & Hummingbird moths). The nectar of the flowers is also likely to attract the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. The sweet fleshy fruits are a popular source of food to many songbirds and upland gamebirds during the fall and winter (see the Bird Table for a listing of these species). By eating the fruits, birds distribute the seeds into new areas. Some mammals also eat the fruits; this includes the Black Bear, Opossum, Raccoon, and Striped Skunk. The twigs and foliage are browsed by White-Tailed Deer (and probably Elk, if it was still present in Illinois). Autumn Olive provides good nesting habitat for many songbirds (especially Robins) and good protective cover for songbirds, upland gamebirds, and rabbits.

Elaeagnus umbellata is one of the earlier shrubs to break dormancy, putting out foliage in mid-March in southern Illinois and advancing north with the season about 100 miles per week (Sternberg 1982). It grows rapidly, producing fruits in 3-5 years. Anthesis occurs after first leaves are out from May to June. Flowers are fragrant and pollinated by a variety of insects (Holtz 1981). The drupes are silvery with brown scales when immature, ripening to a speckled red in September-October. Most fruits are eaten by birds or fall to the ground by early winter (Sternberg 1982). E. umbellata produces a large amount of seed, each tree producing 2-8 lbs. of seed per year and the number of seeds per lb. ranging from 20,000-54,000. The seeds are widely distributed by birds and have a high rate of germination (Holtz 1981). Cold stratification is required to break embryo dormancy (Holtz 1981). The effect of stratification by passing through a bird's digestive tract has apparently not been reported.

Flowering from April to May; fruiting from July to August.

The chromosomal number of Elaeagnus umbellata is 2n = 28 (Zhang et al., 1991).

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 5
Species: 16
Species With Barcodes: 1

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked

Management Requirements: Elaeagnus umbellata seems to be a problem only in locations where small stands or rows were planted, usually within the last 10-20 years, and have begun to spread into adjacent fields or natural areas. It apparently can become troublesome where it occurs on or next to prairies with infrequent prescribed burns because it resprouts quickly after fire damage or cutting.

Since burning and cutting stimulate resprouting, herbicide treatment may be necessary to eradicate large patches. One method of application is to cut the plant off at the main stem and paint the herbicide on the stump. Glyphosate is effective and commonly used. Kurz (pers. comm.) and Nyboer (pers. comm.) recommended a 10-20% dilution for painting on stumps. Foliar applications may be adequate for small patches; the recommended dilution of glyphosate in this case is a 1-2% solution. Kurz (pers. comm.) stated that the best time for herbicide application is in late August or September when the plant is actively translocating materials to the roots.

Kuhns (1986) reported that March dormant season basal applications (stem injections) of triclopyr alone or in combination with 2,4-D provided excellent control of autumn olive at very low concentrations (down to 1% triclopyr in diesel oil). The lowest concentrations of triclopyr and all treatments with the 2,4- D/triclopyr combinations provided slower kills than higher concentrations of triclopyr alone, but only one of the treatment plants were expected to survive (Kuhns 1986). Foliar applications of 2,4-D, triclopyr or metsulfuron methyl in late May or June at recommended rates did not provide adequate control, and even plants that were severely injured recovered the following year. Dicamba applied in late June at 4 lbs/gal (2 qts/100 gal/acre) with a surfactant provided 90% total kill and severely retarded the growth of surviving stems the following year (Kuhns 1986). Glyphosate was not included in this study.

Ohlenbusch and Ritty (1979) reported excellent results for the control of russian olive (E. angustifolia) in Kansas using a variety of herbicides and treatments. Applications were made on June 14 and results evaluated in late August. Foliar applications of 2,4,5-T, silvex, dicamba, picloram, and glyphosate, all in a 90% water/10% diesel oil carrier, resulted in total root kill. However, glyphosate in both 1% and 2% solutions damaged herbaceous plants under the trees so extensively that foliar application of this chemical is not recommended.

Basal application of 2,4,5-T, silvex, and triclopyr, all mixed in diesel oil and applied June 14, also resulted in 100% control. A second study by the same authors indicated that diesel oil alone also provides highly effective basal control of E. angustifolia (Ohlenbusch and Ritty 1979).

Management Programs: Elaeagnus umbellata is not a problem on many preserve lands. It occurs on some state managed natural ares in Illinois and Missouri where management has implemented control programs consisting of herbicide application. Contact: Don Kurz, Natural History Section, Missouri Conservation Dept., P.O. 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102 and Randy Nyboer, Illinois Dept. of Conservation, 2612 Locust St., Sterling, IL 61081.

Management Research Needs: Elaeagnus umbellata is not a priority species for research. There are some indications that its abundance may be increasing, both by continued planting and by seed dispersal from naturalized populations (see Nestleroad et al. 1984 and Sternberg 1982) but little data is available on population dynamics within its range. Questions for consideration include: how well does E. umbellata compete with and displace native vegetation? What is the affect on growth and reproduction of repeated burning over several years?

Comments: Elaeagnus umbellata has been planted in the eastern and central United States for revegetation of strip mines and other disturbed areas, as an ornamental shrub, as wildlife cover, and less so as a nectar source for honeybees, a potential biomass energy crop, and food for human consumption.

Stewardship Overview: Elaeagnus umbellata is planted in some states for wildlife cover. It invades disturbed areas adjacent to the plantings where encroachment can be rapid due to the high production of seeds, high germination rate, and hardiness of the plants. It also resprouts quickly after burning or cutting. Repeating cutting or burning may prevent spread, but may need to be conducted for many years, as resprouting will occur. Herbicides offer more effective control, and glyphosate is commonly painted on stumps after cutting in a 10-20% dilution in late August or September. Foliar sprays of glyphosate and dicamba may be effective but will damage other vegetation under the olive. Basal applications of triclopyr alone or in combination with 2,4-D applied in March (dormant season) will also provide effective control.

Species Impact: Elaeagnus umbellata has the potential of becoming one of the most troublesome adventive shrubs in the central and eastern United States (Sternberg 1982). It exhibits prolific fruiting, rapid growth, is widely disseminated by birds, and can easily adapt to many sites. It is vigorous and competitive against native species, and resprouts after cutting (Nestleroad et al. 1984). Due to its nitrogen-fixing capabilities, it has the capacity to adversely affect the nitrogen cycle of native communities that may depend on infertile soils. E. umbellata is just beginning to be recognized as a potentially serious problem exotic. Seeds are still distributed for wildlife plantings in some states such as Missouri, although the state conservation department is working to stop distribution (Kurz pers. comm.).

Comments: In North America, only var. parvifolia of the species Elaeagnus umbellata is established as an exotic outside cultivation (Kartesz, 1994 checklist).