On Sat, 24 May 2003 23:00:07 -0400, Sean Nemecek
wrote:

Can anyone identify this tree/shrub? I have been through Dirr
twice and I can't find anything like it. In the fall it
has green-gray berries. Check out the images at:


http://www.sendpix.com/albums/030524...0125324f5997da
7d9d411315f76c1e9ab2/

Thanks for the help,
Sean Nemecek - Cadillac, MI - Zone 4b or 5a



Sean,

The pictures and the mention of green-gray berries reminds
me of the Silverberry or wolfwillow, Elaeagnus
commutata. With a range described as: "Well-drained, open
sites; plains to montane; Alaska to Idaho and Montana.
" in a guide to Plants of the Rocky Mountains. There are other
Elaeagnus species that may be present in your part
of the continent. In Japan there is an Elaeagnus that is
called gumi but it has red berries. See if Dirr has anything
on the silverberry.

If there are silvery "dots" or "scales" on the leaves --
particularly on the undersides it could well be Elaeagnus.
However, when I squint at the picture of the bush itself, the
leaves don't appear to resemble the ones pictured in the closeup.
They seem longer and narrower. From the bush shot I'd say
"Firethorn" (Pyracantha) but the leaf pictures are NOT
Pyracantha leaves. They don't quite look like Elaeagnus leaves,
either -- but then I may not know what the leaves of your local
species look like. Down here we have Russian Olive and Spiny
Elaeagnus. Maybe all the leaves just happened to be edge on in
the shrub photo. Both have similar growth habits -- long spiky
shoots. Dirr has several Elaeagnus species listed.

Both make decent, but hard-to-control, bonsai. Firethorn is
susceptible to various blights. The Elaeagnus species we have
down here don't seem to be susceptible to much of anything -- but
their foliage gets so thick they're notorious for hiding black
widow spiders.

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - Our life is
frittered away by detail . . . . Simplify! Simplify. -- Henry
David Thoreau - Walden

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