Elaeagnus

Description:

Thorny olive is a dense evergreen shrub. It is usually multi-stemmed and short. Sharp shoots give it a thorny appearance. Shrubs can grow 3.3-26.3 ft. tall. They are usually very dense with long shoots extending from the top. The leaves are alternate, oval to elliptical, with irregular wavy margins and silvery surfaces, 2-4 in. in length and thick. The axillary clusters of small, sweet-smelling, white to brown flowers develop in the fall. Plants rarely fruit, but fruit are small, red and dotted with small brown scales. Thorny olive closely resembles two other exotic olives, autumn olive and Russian olive.

Habitat:

Hillside on edge of greenbelt. A large bush had grown near there, but died several years ago. This one was growing under the edge.