Jepson eFlora: Taxon page
Vascular Plants of California
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Elaeagnus angustifolia
RUSSIAN OLIVE


Higher Taxonomy
Family: ElaeagnaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: OLEASTER FAMILY
Habit: Shrub, tree, generally thorny, generally densely silvery-hairy throughout; hairs generally scale-like; occasionally +- dioecious. Leaf: simple, alternate or opposite, generally deciduous, entire; petiole generally short; stipules 0. Inflorescence: generally umbel-like, axillary; flowers 1--few. Flower: radial; hypanthium rotate to salverform, fleshy in age, lower part generally constricted, persistent, with a nectary disk; sepals generally 4, +- petal-like; petals 0; anthers 4 or 8, +- sessile; ovary superior but appearing inferior, chamber 1, style 1. Fruit: achene enclosed in fleshy hypanthium, appearing drupe- or berry-like.
Genera In Family: 3 genera, +- 45 species: North America, Europe, Asia, eastern Australia; especially temperate, subtropics.
eFlora Treatment Author: Elizabeth McClintock, except as noted
Scientific Editor: Douglas H. Goldman, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Genus: ElaeagnusView Description 


Flower: hypanthium bell-shaped to salverform, lobes 4; stamens +- exserted; disk flask-shaped, enclosing base of style; stigma +- elongate, on 1 side of style.
Etymology: (Greek: olive, chaste-tree)
Elaeagnus angustifolia L.
NATURALIZED
Habit: Plant < 7 m, occasionally thorny. Leaf: 4--8 cm, lanceolate to oblong, more silvery on abaxial surface. Flower: 5--10 mm, +- as wide at top, fragrant; hypanthium +- dark yellow inside, tube +- = lobes. Fruit: 10--20 mm, elliptic in outline, yellow.
Ecology: Uncommon. Disturbed, sometimes moist places; Elevation: generally < 2050 m. Bioregional Distribution: ScV, SnFrB, SnGb, SnBr, PR, GB, DMoj; Distribution Outside California: native to temperate Asia. Flowering Time: May--Jun Note: Cultivated as ornamental.
Synonyms: Elaeagnus angustifolius L., orth. var.
Jepson eFlora Author: Elizabeth McClintock
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)
View the CDFA Pest Rating page for Elaeagnus angustifolia
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Botanical illustration including Elaeagnus angustifolia

botanical illustration including Elaeagnus angustifolia

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Citation for this treatment: Elizabeth McClintock 2012, Elaeagnus angustifolia, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=23860, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 19, 2024.

Elaeagnus angustifolia
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©2009 Barry Rice
Elaeagnus angustifolia
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©2010 Neal Kramer
Elaeagnus angustifolia
click for enlargement
©2009 Barry Rice

More photos of Elaeagnus angustifolia
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Geographic subdivisions for Elaeagnus angustifolia:
ScV, SnFrB, SnGb, SnBr, PR, GB, DMoj
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map of distribution 1
(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).





 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.
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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues.
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CCH collections by month

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).