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Summary
Duration	Perennial
Growth Habit	Shrub
U.S. Nativity	Native to U.S.
Federal T/E Status
National Wetland Indicator	UPL, NI
Morphology/Physiology
Active Growth Period	Spring and Summer
After Harvest Regrowth Rate
Bloat	None
C:N Ratio	Medium
Coppice Potential	No
Fall Conspicuous	Yes
Fire Resistant	No
Flower Color	Yellow
Flower Conspicuous	No
Foliage Color	White-Gray
Foliage Porosity Summer	Dense
Foliage Porosity Winter	Moderate
Foliage Texture	Coarse
Fruit/Seed Color	Red
Fruit/Seed Conspicuous	Yes
Growth Form	Multiple Stem
Growth Rate	Rapid
Height at 20 Years, Maximum (feet)	12
Height, Mature (feet)	12
Known Allelopath	No
Leaf Retention	No
Lifespan	Moderate
Low Growing Grass	No
Nitrogen Fixation	Medium
Resprout Ability	Yes
Shape and Orientation	Erect
Toxicity	None
Growth Requirements
Adapted to Coarse Textured Soils	Yes
Adapted to Fine Textured Soils	No
Adapted to Medium Textured Soils	Yes
Anaerobic Tolerance	None
CaCO3 Tolerance	High
Cold Stratification Required	Yes
Drought Tolerance	High
Fertility Requirement	Low
Fire Tolerance	Medium
Frost Free Days, Minimum	100
Hedge Tolerance	Medium
Moisture Use	Low
pH, Minimum	5
pH, Maximum	7.9
Planting Density per Acre, Minimum	1200
Planting Density per Acre, Maximum	1700
Precipitation, Minimum	16
Precipitation, Maximum	45
Root Depth, Minimum (inches)	18
Salinity Tolerance	Low
Shade Tolerance	Intolerant
Temperature, Minimum (°F)	-38
Reproduction
Bloom Period	Early Summer
Commercial Availability	Field Collections Only
Fruit/Seed Abundance	High
Fruit/Seed Period Begin	Summer
Fruit/Seed Period End	Fall
Fruit/Seed Persistence	Yes
Propagated by Bare Root	Yes
Propagated by Bulb	No
Propagated by Container	Yes
Propagated by Corm	No
Propagated by Cuttings	No
Propagated by Seed	Yes
Propagated by Sod	No
Propagated by Sprigs	No
Propagated by Tubers	No
Seed per Pound	3800
Seed Spread Rate	Slow
Seedling Vigor	High
Small Grain	No
Vegetative Spread Rate	None
Suitability/Use
Berry/Nut/Seed Product	No
Christmas Tree Product	No
Fodder Product	No
Fuelwood Product	None
Lumber Product	No
Naval Store Product	No
Nursery Stock Product	Yes
Palatable Browse Animal	Medium
Palatable Graze Animal	Low
Palatable Human	Yes
Post Product	No
Protein Potential	Low
Pulpwood Product	No
Veneer Product	No

 

Kingdom  Plantae -- Plants

Subkingdom  Tracheobionta -- Vascular plants

Superdivision  Spermatophyta -- Seed plants

Division  Magnoliophyta -- Flowering plants

Class  Magnoliopsida -- Dicotyledons

Subclass  Rosidae

Order  Rhamnales

Family  Elaeagnaceae -- Oleaster family

Genus  Elaeagnus L. -- elaeagnus P

Species  Elaeagnus commutata Bernh. ex Rydb. -- silverberry P

 

Alternate common names

Silverberry, wolf-willow

 

Uses

Wildlife/Livestock: American silverberry is an important wildlife food for moose, elk, mule deer and white-tailed deer, pronghorn, upland game birds, small nongame birds, small mammals, and waterfowl.  Its palatability is rated poor for cattle and horses and fair for sheep.  American silverberry also provides protection and nesting cover for these same animals, particularly in grasslands and other mostly open habitats.  In mature White Spruce forests of the Yukon Territory, it provides important habitat for snowshoe hares.

 

Ethnobotany: The fleshy fruit of American silverberry is cooked in moose fat and eaten by some Alaskan natives.  The pits of the fruits are used as necklace beads in the Fort Yukon region of Alaska. 

 

Conservation: The vigorous rhizomatous habit of American silverberry helps it spread quickly in disturbed sites, and it has been used for soil stabilization of mine spoils in British Columbia and Alberta.  Pre-inoculation with mycorrhizal and nitrogen-fixing symbionts may result in more rapid revegetation. 

 

Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural Resources for this plant’s current status, such as, state noxious status and wetland indicator values.

 

Description

General: Oleaster family (Elaeagnaceae).  Long-lived shrubs, growing 1-4 m tall, rarely small trees, strongly rhizomatous, and stoloniferous, sometimes forming thickets or loose colonies, the branches thornless, reddish brown, sparsely to densely covered with silvery scales.  Leaves are deciduous, simple, alternate, 2-10 cm long, ovate to oblong or ovate-lanceolate, wedge-shaped at base, short petioled, both surfaces covered by minute, silver scales, sometimes with scattered brown scales beneath.  Flowers are bisexual or unisexual, sweet-scented, short-stalked in lateral clusters of 1-3 on twigs of the current year; petals absent, the sepals forming a 4-lobed tube from the top of the developing fruit (the ovary inferior), yellowish inside, silvery outside, 12-15 mm long.  Fruits are ovate to ellipsoid, 8-10 mm long, silvery-covered with a dry mealy flesh covering a single, ellipsoid stone.  North American native with fruits covered by silver scales. 

 

Distribution

American silverberry is distributed across northern North America, from Alaska, Yukon Territory, and the Northwest Territories through Canada, except for the easternmost provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland), and in the United States from Washington to Minnesota and southward to northeastern Utah and Colorado.  “Escapes” (presumably from cultivation) occur in Texas and Kentucky.  Although the species is wide-ranging, the plants usually are uncommon to rare and local where they occur.  For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

 

Adaptation

American silverberry commonly occurs in riparian communities along watercourses and is ranked as a facultative wetland species in Alaska.  It also grows in open grasslands and a variety of open forests and thickets.  Because of its relative shade intolerance, it usually is found in open vegetation, particularly where soil disturbance has occurred.  It is a dominant species and indicator of relatively young (6-19 years old) quaking aspen parkland communities in the Canadian Prairie Provinces.  The tough leaves, with their dense and close cover of scales, probably are at least partially responsible for the drought resistance of silverberry.  Plants also are wind resistant and tolerate temperatures down to about -40°C. 

 

Although it grows best in loamy soils, American silverberry is commonly found in dry, sandy or gravelly soils, including those highly susceptible to erosion.  The species occurs over a wide range of elevation (300-8000 feet).  Flowering in June-August; fruiting mostly August-October.   

 

Establishment

Seeds are produced in good crops every 1-2 years.  They remain viable 1-2 years or more and germination may require a natural stratification period of nearly two years.  Birds are the primary seed dispersers.  American silverberry also reproduces and spreads by rhizomes. 

 

Plants cut back severely to old wood can still regenerate.  Cuttings are slow and difficult to root, usually requiring at least 12 months for good establishment. 

 

Management

American silverberry fixes nitrogen, some of which is available to plants of other species growing nearby.  In rough fescue grasslands, silverberry at 1,000 stems per acre increases forage production.  It can be grown in orchards to increase yields from fruit trees by up to 10%. 

 

American silverberry is an “increaser” species on overgrazed cattle rangelands, and where silverberry was a minor component 20 years ago in rough fescue grasslands of Alberta and Saskatchewan, it is now widely distributed.  Frequent sheep browsing or mowing, however, reduce silverberry cover.  Many passerine bird species are attracted to mixed-grass prairie with interspersed silverberry cover and reduction of silverberry results in reduced or altered composition of bird communities.  

 

In native grasslands, American silverberry is often controlled with herbicides or fire.  It is top-killed by most fires and is probably completely killed by severe fires.  In the Canada Great Plains, American silverberry is described as a species "seriously harmed by spring and fall burns."  Plants sprout from rhizomes after fire, and although numbers of plants may increase after fire, cover usually decreases and recovers slowly.  Presettlement fires probably occurred every 5-10 years in grasslands where American silverberry is a common shrub.  More frequent burning reduces silverberry cover, but patches of shrubs can be maintained by employing partial burns. 

 

Pests and Potential Problems

American silverberry is heavily rusted in Canada and is also a host for pycnia and aecia of Puccinia coronata (crown rust) and Puccinia caricis-sherpherdiae.  An unidentified species of Calamagrostis was found to be a uredinial and telial host for Puccinia coronata found on E. commutata. 

 

Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

These plant materials are readily available from commercial sources.  Contact your local NRCS office for more information.

 

References

Abrams, L. 1951.  Illustrated flora of the Pacific Northwest.  Vol. III.  Stanford University Press, Palo Alto, California.

 

Bailey, A.W. 1970.  Barrier effect of the shrub Elaeagnus commutata on grazing cattle and forage production in central Alberta.  J. Range Managemt. 23:248-251.

 

Esser, L.L. 1994.  Elaeagnus commutata.  In: W.C. Fischer, compiler.  The Fire Effects Information System [Data base].  U.S. Dept. of Agric., Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Intermountain Fire Sciences Lab., Missoula, Montana.  <https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/>

 

Graham, S.A. 1964.  The Elaeagnaceae in the southeastern United States.  J. Arnold Arb. 45:274-278.  

 

Scianna, J.D. (Sept.) 1999. Description, propagation and use of silverberry (Elaeagnus commutata). Montana Technical Note 33.  USDA, NRCS Bridger Plant Materials Center, Bridger, Montana.  5p.

Soper, J.H. & M.L. Heimburger 1982.  Shrubs of Ontario.  Life Sciences Misc. Publ.  Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

 

Stephens, H.A. 1973.  Woody plants of the North Central Plains.  The University Press of Kansas,  Lawrence, Kansas.

 

Vories, K.C. 1981.  Growing Colorado plants from seed: a state of the art.  Vol. I.  Shrubs.  Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-103. U.S.  Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Ogden, Utah.  

 

Watson, L.E., R.W. Parker, & D.F. Polster 1980.  Manual of plant species suitablity for reclamation in Alberta. Vol. 2.  Forbs, shrubs and trees.  Land Conservation and Reclamation Council.  Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

 

Prepared By

Guy Nesom

BONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

 

Species Coordinator

Larry Holzworth

USDA, NRCS, Montana State Office, Bozeman, Montana

 

Edited 19sep00 jsp;10feb03 ahv; 10aug03jsp; 25may06jsp

 

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS Web site<https://plants.usda.gov> or the Plant Materials Program Web site <https://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov>

 

 

 

Attribution:  U.S. Department of Agriculture