Elaeagnus angustifolia - Russian olive

Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) is a deciduous shrub or small tree with silvery leaves and yellow flowers. It produces small, olive-like fruits that are edible but astringent. The plant is drought-tolerant and used for windbreaks and erosion control, though it is also considered invasive in some regions.

Inputs

• Hardiness zone 2¹
• Hardiness zone 3¹
• Hardiness zone 4¹
• Hardiness zone 5¹
• Hardiness zone 6¹
• Hardiness zone 7¹
• Hardiness zone 8¹

Outputs

• Poultry forage²
• Bird nesting space³
• Winter fruits for birds³
• Wildlife habitat⁴
• Human food⁴

Type

• Shrub
• Deciduous

Functions

• Nitrogen fixer⁵
• Drought-tolerance
• Flammable⁶

Footnotes

1. Elaeagnus angustifolia | Plants for a Future ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. Gaia’s Garden - A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition Appendix ↩

3. Gaia’s Garden - A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition Table 7-2 ↩ ↩²

4. Gaia’s Garden - A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition Table 10-1 ↩ ↩²

5. Gaia’s Garden - A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2nd Edition Table 6-3 ↩

6. Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, “Wildland Urban Interface Vegetation Lists,” 2021 (https://web.archive.org/web/20250504084353/https://ccfd.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/CCFD-WUI-Vegetation-Lists-2021.pdf), requires 5ft structure clearance for “Elaeagnus Angustifolia” ↩