Elaeagnus angustifolia seed

LATIN NAME: Elaeagnus angustifolia

COMMON NAME: Russian Olive

The Russian olive is a tough, silvery, often thorny shrub or small tree of the dry lands, and its slender, silvery-green leaves and its small, fragrant, yellow flowers have made it a valued plant of the windbreaks and the gardens. It grows as a deciduous shrub or a small tree, reaching up to ten metres or more, with the upright, often thorny branches bearing the alternate, narrow, lance-shaped, silvery-green leaves and, in the early summer, the small, fragrant, yellow flowers in the leaf axils, followed by the small, oval, silvery then yellowish, edible fruits. It is a species of the tree in the oleaster family, and it is native to the western and the central Asia, while it is grown in the dry and the cold regions, and it is known as the Russian olive or the oleaster.

The Russian olive belongs to the oleaster family, Elaeagnaceae, and it is a species of the deciduous shrub or small tree, native to the western and the central Asia, while it is grown in the dry regions, and it is known as the Russian olive. It is prized for its silvery-green foliage and its small, fragrant, yellow flowers, and for its toughness in the dry soils.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The Russian olive has a real and growing place in the research. It has been studied in the horticulture and the arboriculture, since its silvery-green foliage and its small, fragrant, yellow flowers have made it a valued plant of the windbreaks and the gardens, and researchers have examined its growth, its hardiness and its cultivation, while its toughness in the dry soils has drawn attention in the international horticultural press as a plant of the dry garden. The plant has also been studied in the ecology and the land restoration, since it is a hardy, drought-tolerant tree of the dry lands, and researchers have examined its use in the windbreaks and the stabilising of the soil, while its value in the re-vegetation of the dry and the degraded lands has been of continuing interest, and the study of the dry-land trees has been of value. The species has also been studied in the food science, since its small, oval fruits are edible, and researchers have examined their composition and their use, while the growing of the fruiting forms has been of continuing interest. In some regions beyond its home the Russian olive has spread readily, so it is best planted with a mind to the local garden. For a tree of such toughness, the Russian olive has a rich and continuing record of study.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

Ecologically, the Russian olive is a generous tree of the garden. Its small, fragrant, yellow flowers feed the bees and the insects, and its small, oval fruits feed the birds, while its dense, leafy crown gives a fine shelter to the birds of the dry garden.

Its economic value is real. The Russian olive is prized for its silvery-green foliage and its toughness in the dry soils, and its value has drawn attention in the international horticultural and ecological press as a plant of the dry garden, while its small, edible fruits and its fine, hard wood have also been valued in the regions of its home. For a grower, the Russian olive is an easy and rewarding tree, and for a gardener of the dry regions it brings a silvery-green, fragrant, tough tree to the garden. The seeds are easy to start — sow them just below the surface of a pot of moist, free-draining soil, keep them lightly watered, and they’ll be sprouting steadily, growing on into a silvery-green, fragrant, tough tree.

Elaeagnus Angustifolia

Height: 12-15ft

Width: 12-15ft

Flower: Late spring-small and fragrant, silvery white flowers

Fruit: Silver fruit in summer

Leaves: Silver grey, to grey green leaves.

Requirements: Sun, range of soil types, copes well with drought and is salt tolerant.

Growth rate, moderate to rapid.

Fruits after three years

Fruit is edible and sweet

Germination: Scarification: Soak seeds in hot top water before chilling or boiling water if the seeds do not soften.Stratification: Dormant seeds require about 30-60 days kept in refridgerator around 5c to mimic Russian winter. Sow in moist compost 3/4 inch deep Once they are sown, there is a good percentage of seeds which will turn into viable plants.

To avoid stratifying, sow outdoors in mulched seed bed in Autumn/Fall for spring germination.