Silverberries

Silverberries

Silverberries are the fruit from the silverberry bush (Elaeagnus commutata) native to the northern regions of North America, especially the Hudson's Bay region (Coon). These are consumed locally because they aren’t of much interest elsewhere. Silverberries are closely related to the ancestor of the olive called "oleaster" (Elaeagnus angustifolius), which is eaten in Turkey and other Mediterranean countries (Facciola). After drying, the fruits are a pale brown and look something like small dates. A group of the oleaster grows further to the east in Afghanistan and region. There are also other species that bear similar fruits in the Orient and Alaska.

The bud color is a silvery-white to a pale brown underneath. Each bud varies in size from one eighth inch to one fourth inch (Moerman). The flowers are tubular, short stalked, fragrant and are produced in great numbers around May. The flowers are usually yellow with silver on the outside of the tubes. The fruit can vary from round to egg-shaped berries that are red and silver. The fruit ripens from September to October. The leaf surface is a dull green with an underside that is silvery-white. The length of the leaves varies from one and a half inches to three and a half inches, while the width varies from three fourths of an inch to one and a quarter inch (Moerman). The bark color usually consists of a brown to grey coloration. The plant usually grows in a narrow and upright manner and reaches heights of five to nine feet and widths of three to six feet (Moerman). The plant grows best on well drained, coarse soil with moist subsoil. It prefers a moist subsoil rather than water-logged pond sites. The soils pH ranges from six to eight (Moerman). The plant has a cold hardiness that is consistent

with Zone Two of the USDA (Moerman). It is also considered somewhat drought tolerant. The plant grows in full light or light shade. Common diseases include branch cankers.

The silverberry bush was commonly used as a divider along the highways not only for its pleasant appearance, but for the fact it’s fruit attracted many songbirds (Hedrick). It was later found that the number of roadkill victims had increased at an alarming rate and the area that included most of these accidents was the area of the highway with silverberrry bushes for dividers (Ashworth). Before these plants were used as dividers, the Japanese were