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Russian
Olive
Common
Name(s):
Russian Olive
Oleaster
Scientific
Name:
Elaeagnus
angustifolia L.
Scientific
Name Synonyms:
None known
Symbol:
ELAN
Description:
Life Span: Perennial
Origin:
Introduced
Season: Deciduous
Growth Characteristics:
Russian
olive is a shrub or small tree usually 12 to 45 feet tall. It can
grow up to 6 feet per year. It forms a dense, rounded crown. Near
the ground its branches spread from 10 to 20 feet. Unpruned trees
have five or six main stems starting near the ground. It reproduces
from seed and by root sprouting.
Flowers/Inflorescence:
Flowers
are small, yellow, and very fragrant, borne in teh axils of the
leaves.
Fruits/Seeds:
Fruit is a light grayish-green olive-shaped drupe.
Leaves: Linear,
light green above, gray below, 1.7 to 3.5 inches long. The leaves
are covered with scalelike, stellate pubescence, giving it the appearance
of silvery scales.
Stems: The
twigs of Russian olive are flexible, coated with a gray, scaly pubescence
and have a thorn at the end. Bark is reddish-brown and thin, with
shallow fissures, and exfoliates into long strips.
Ecological
Adaptations:
Russian
olive is commonly found growing along floodplains, riverbanks, stream
courses, marshes, and irrigation ditches in the West at elevations
from 4500 to 6000 feet. It is tolerant of considerable amounts of
salinity or alkalinity, and can survive considerable droughts.
Russian olive sprouts from the root crown and sends up root suckers.
Soils: Russian
olive thrives under a wide range of soil textures from sand to heavy
clay, and can withstand flooding and silting. It grows best in deep
sandy or loamy soils with only slight salt and alkali content.
Associated Species:
Saltgrass,
cheatgrass, peppergrass,
big sagebrush, buffalo berry, prickly
lettuce.
Uses and
Management:
Russian
olive has no forage value for livestock or big game, although both
browse the foliage at times. Wild fowl and game birds eat the fruit,
and the tree is used for cover and protection. More than 50 species
of birds and mammals eat the fruit of Russian olive. Beavers use
Russian olive branches for dam-building material. It is often used
in windbreaks.
In general, Russian olive-dominated communities provide inferior
wildlife habitat to that of native riparian vegetation. Russian
olive can interfere with agricultural practices and can displace
native riparian vegetation. It rapidly colonizes lowland fields,
often chokes irrigation ditches, and damages tires and equipment.
The impact of Russian olive may be severe in some locations. It
has been declared a noxious weed in parts of Utah.
Once established Russian olive is difficult to control and nearly
impossible to eradicate. Efforts to control unwanted concentrations
of Russian olive have included mowing seedlings, cutting, burning,
spraying, girdling, and bulldozing. Most efforts have realized limited
success. Apparently the most effective combination of control efforts
has been cutting trees, followed by either spraying or burning the
stumps.
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