Family: Elaegnaceae, Oleaster view all from this family

Description Introduced shrub or small tree often with crooked or leaning trunk, dense crown of low branches, silvery foliage, and sometimes spiny twigs.
Height: 20' (6 m).
Diameter: 4" (10 cm).
Leaves: 1 1/2-3 1/4" (4-8 cm) long, 3/8-3/4" (10-19 mm) wide. Lance-shaped or oblong; without teeth; short-stalked. Dull gray-green with obscure veins above, silvery, scaly, and brown-dotted beneath.
Bark: gray-brown; thin, fissured and shedding in long strips.
Twigs: silvery, scaly when young, becoming reddish-brown; long and slender; often ending in short spine.
Flowers: 3/8" (10 mm) long; bell-shaped; with 4 calyx lobes, yellow inside, silvery outside (petals absent); fragrant; short-stalked; scattered along twigs at leaf bases; in late spring or early summer.
Fruit: 3/8-1/2" (10-12 mm) long; berrylike, elliptical,yellow to brown with silvery scales, becoming shiny; thin, yellow, mealy, sweet edible pulp; large brown stone; scattered along twig; maturing in late summer and autumn.

Habitat Moist soils, from salty to alkaline; spreading in valleys.

Range Native of S. Europe and Asia; planted and naturalized from British Columbia east to Ontario and from New England west to Texas and California; to 5000' (1524 m) or above.

Discussion Tolerant of cold, drought, and city smoke, Russian-olive has been a popular ornamental and roadside tree but is now considered a noxious or invasive weed. It has been most problematic in the West, where it sometimes takes over riparian habitats, to the detriment of native flora. The plants sprout and spread from roots, and their seeds are dispersed by wildlife. The fruit is consumed by songbirds, such as cedar waxwings, robins, and grosbeaks, and by pheasants and quail. Not related to the Olive (Olea europaea L.), which also has narrow gray leaves.