Russian Olive

Plant: Deciduous, small thorny tree (or shrub), to 35 ft (10 m) tall, single stemmed, leafy, leaves and twigs silvery scaly, many yellow olive fruit in fall. Occurs on forest edges and under open forest canopies.

Stem: Twigs slender and silver scaly, thorny, becoming smooth and greenish, pith pale brown to orange-brown, branches smooth and reddish-brown, bark dark brown and densely fissured.

Leaves: Alternate, long-lanceolate to oblanceolate, 1.5-4 in (3-10 cm) long and 0.4-1.2 in (1-3 cm) wide, margins entire (rarely toothed), green to slightly silver above and densely silver scaly beneath, petioles short and silvery

Flowers: Jun-Jul. Axillary clusters, 5-10 flowers, fragrant, tubular with 4 lobes, silvery-white to yellow.

Fruit and seeds: Aug-Oct. Drupe, olive-like, 0.5 in (1.2 cm) wide and long, hard and yellow (sometimes tinged with red), containing 1 nutlet.

Ecology: Spread by animal-dispersed seeds and found as scattered plants in forest openings and open forests. A new arrival in the northern part of the Southeastern Region.

Synonyms: oleaster.