Elaeagnus UMBELLATA

Elaeagnus UMBELLATA - Autumn Olive, Umbellate Oleaster, Elaeagnus umbellata, Wild Olive.

Can be grown in bonsai style!

Elaeagnus is a genus of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs in the Elaeagnaceae family, numbering several dozen species. They grow in temperate and subtropical regions of Asia, Europe, and North America, more often on sandy and stony soils, along riverbanks and on open slopes.

Plants are often thorny, up to 6 meters (20 ft) in height. Leaves are alternate, oblong or lanceolate. The main hallmark of the genus is silvery scales that completely cover shoots, the underside of leaves, and fruits: in the sun, the crown gleams with a metallic sheen.

Flowers are small, axillary, bisexual, with a fused four-lobed perianth instead of a corolla, very fragrant. The fruit is drupe-like, with mealy pulp and a single oblong ribbed stone. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria live on the roots of oleaster, so the plant provides itself with nitrogen and at the same time improves the soil around it.

Autumn Olive is a deciduous shrub or small tree native to East Asia: it grows in China, Japan, Korea, and the Himalayas. Height is 3-4 meters (10-13 ft), in favorable conditions up to 6 meters (20 ft). Shoots often have thorns, with young ones completely covered in silvery scales.

Leaves are oblong-lanceolate, green above, silvery below with dense scale-like pubescence. Flowers are creamy-yellow, gathered in clusters in leaf axils, very fragrant, opening in May and June. Fruits are rounded, about 6-8 mm (0.24-0.31 in), bright red when ripe, densely dotted with silvery specks, sweet with a pleasant astringency, ripening in September and October.

Oleaster seeds are oblong ribbed stones, one in each fruit. For germination they require cold moist stratification: seeds are mixed with moist sand and held for 2-3 months at a temperature of 2-5 °C (36-41 °F). Scarification is not required, but with a very dense shell it is permissible to lightly rub the stone with sandpaper.

After stratification, seeds are held for 1-2 hours in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate, then soaked for 12-24 hours in warm water with the addition of a growth stimulant: SUPERthrive, HB-101, Aminozol, Epin, or Zircon. Then they are sown into a loose substrate to a depth of about 2 cm (0.8 in), moistened from a spray bottle, covered with film or placed in a propagator, and germinated in light at a temperature of 18-22 °C (64-72 °F).

Under favorable conditions, the first seedlings appear as early as 3-4 weeks, the main germination extends over 1-2 months, and individual seeds may linger until the following spring. Sowings are regularly ventilated; waterlogging and drying out are unacceptable. Pricking out is carried out after the formation of 2-3 true leaves into individual deep pots.

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The plant is light-loving and develops best in an open sunny location.

Autumn olive is frost-hardy, drought-tolerant, and calmly endures gusty wind. An adult plant does not need winter shelter.

Watering is needed only for young plants in the first years after planting and during severe drought. An adult shrub practically does not need watering.

Oleaster is undemanding regarding substrate and grows on soils of the most varied composition, including poor sandy ones. In container culture, drainage is laid at the bottom of the pot, and coarse sand is added to the soil.

Feeding with nitrogen fertilizers is not needed for the plant: it produces nitrogen itself. It is sufficient to apply a little balanced fertilizer for ornamental shrubs in spring.

Oleaster tolerates pruning excellently and recovers quickly, so it is pruned both into hedges and bonsai. In addition to seeds, the plant is propagated by cuttings.