Autumn Olive

Autumn Olive

Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata Thunb.) is a deciduous, bushy shrub growing to 20 feet tall. It has alternate leaves that are dark green above and silvery beneath. It produces abundant spherical red berries with silvery scales in the fall. Introduced from China and Japan, and still widely planted for wildlife habitat, reclamation of strip mines, and shelterbelts, autumn olive is being spread rapidly and widely by birds and other animals. It is becoming a scattered understory shrub in open forests throughout the Southeast, to the detriment of native trees and shrubs.