Autumn Olive Fruit
The Autumn Olive is native to Asia and now grows
prolifically throughout the United States. Other common names are Japanese
silverberry, autumnberry, spreading oleaster, oleaster and elaeagnus.
This remarkable fruiting shrub is not an olive at all.
The species is indigenous to eastern Asia and ranges from
the Himalayas eastwards to Japan. It is a hardy, aggressive invasive species
able to readily colonize barren land, becoming a troublesome plant in the
central and north-eastern United States and Europe. High seed production, high germination rates
and the sheer hardiness of the plant allows it to grow rapidly. The autumn olive dominates whole landscapes.
Its berries can weigh branches to the ground.
Once you have harvested, you can enjoy the fruits both
raw and cooked. As in tomatoes, the red colour of the berries comes from
lycopene, which is not water soluble, so the pulp separates into two parts – a
clear juice and a thick red solid.
Elaeagnus umbellata
grows as a deciduous shrub or small tree, typically up to 4 to 6 metres tall,
with a dense crown. It commonly bears sharp thorns in the form of
spur branches. Flowers are fragrant and occur in clusters of
white to yellow, 8–9 mm in length and 7 mm in diameter, and have four lobes.
The leaves are
alternate, 4–10 cm long and 2–4 cm wide with wavy margins. The leaves are
covered with minute silvery scales when they emerge early in spring, but turn
greener above as the scales wear off during the summer. The underside is more
intensely covered in the silvery scales, differing from the related E.
angustifolia, which remains silvery until it sheds its leaves in the fall.
The autumn olive is a
native plant of China, Japan and Korea that made its way to the United States
in 1830. In the 1950s it was widely promoted as a great way to provide wildlife
habitat and erosion control in environmentally disturbed areas. Although it did
make available habitat and food for wildlife, it soon became a major problem as
autumn olive began to rapidly spread throughout the state. To make matters
worse, attempts to remove the shrub by cutting and/or burning created even more
autumn olive.
Flowers occur in June
and July; aromatic, pale yellow, fused at the base with 4 petals pointed at the
tips; fruits are produced August through October; small, red-brown to pink and
dotted with brown or silvery scales; abundant.
Spreads: by seed that is dispersed by birds and mammals; some vegetative
propagation also occurs.
The fruit is a small
round drupe 1/4 to 1/3 inches (0.65 to 0.85 cm) in diameter. The unripe fruit is silvery-scaled and
yellow. It ripens to red, dotted with silver or brown. The ripe fruits are
pulpy, juicy and sweet, and average 130 to 160 milligrams in weight, with a
thin skin covering the whole fruit. Having
a sweet and tart flavor, the berries can be eaten fresh or processed for jam,
condiments, flavouring, or used as a substitute for tomato. When mature, the red berries contain
carotenoids, including considerable amounts of lycopene.
The Problem with
Autumn Olive
Autumn olive is an
invasive species that out-competes and displaces native plants by creating a
dense shade that hinders the growth of plants that need lots of sun. It can
produce up to 200,000 seeds each year, and can spread over a variety of
habitats as its nitrogen-fixing root nodules allows the plant to grow in even
the most unfavorable soils. Not to mention that it reproduces quickly and with
little effort at all.
Birds are quite
attracted to the seeds, and will scatter them throughout pastures, along
roadsides and near fences. Even attempting to remove autumn olive by cutting or
burning can cause unwanted spreading as the shrub germinates easily.
The berries are
bright red, tart, rich in tannins, antioxidants, and lycopene (18 times higher
than tomatoes). The ripeness and flavour varies from shrub to shrub.
Additionally, the berries get sweeter later in the season but have more
pressure from pests and birds.
These tiny red jewels
are a nutritional powerhouse, packed with vitamins A, C, and E, flavonoids and
essential fatty acids. But they're even better known for being rich in the
antioxidant lycopene, which is a major player in fighting many cancers. In fact,
autumn berries are 17 times richer in lycopene than an equal serving of
tomatoes. Despite being labeled as a berry, and despite claims that they taste
like cranberries or pomegranates, we found autumn berries to taste more savory
than a typical sweet, tart berry.
The nitrogen fixing
nodules of the plants root system make this tree-like shrub particularly well
suited for poor and infertile soils. This, coupled with drought tolerance,
enables the Autumn Olive to out compete many surrounding indigenous species. In
fact, they were introduced to the U.S. to help recover eroded areas and
re-landscape many of the old and decimated coal fields throughout Appalachia
because of its rapid and vigorous growth. The Autumn Olive did such a good job
that it is now considered a highly invasive species by the U.S. government and
many homeowners.
Once you've acquired
some autumn berries, they can be eaten fresh, pureed, frozen, made into jam or
fermented into wine.
Some varieties
available. They are Red Milan, Sweet Milan and Amber.
Autumn Olive - Red
Milan, elaeagnus umbellata KoralVariety
introduced from a nursery. very productive - large fruits with a sweet-sour
taste sit close to the shoots. They ripen in late September.
A strong growing and
very productive shrub and reaching 3-4m height. The fruits are good for fresh
eating and preserves. They have a sweet-tart flavor and are juicy, average 8mm
in diameter. They begin to ripen in September but the best taste occurs at the
end of October. The flowers are strong honey-yielding. If the fruits are
remained on plants they are also showy and very attractive to birds in winter.
Plant it on poor, dry
and good drainaged soil. Resistant to salt and heat. Needs full sunlight – does
not tolerate shade. In very cold winters it could freeze back but resprouts
good. Self sterile.
Autumn Olive - Sweet
Milan
Another variety and slightly
less bearing, but with larger and sweeter fruits. Self sterile - at least two different plants
are needed for pollinating. Plant density about 2m.
Autumn Olive - Amber
American variety with yellow fruits ripening in
September
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