Scientific Name: Elaeagnus pungens
Common Name: thorny elaeagnus, silverthorn
Family Name: Elaeagnaceae
Origin: S.E. Asia / Japan / China
Hardiness Zone: Zone 7: (-18 to -12 °C)
Plant Type: Broadleaf evergreen
Mature Size: 3 - 5m x 4 - 5m (height x width)
Habit: Arching, Dense, Spreading, Upright
Form: Mounded, Oval - horizontal
Texture: Medium
Landscape Uses: Espalier, Group or mass planting, Reclamation, Screening
Exposure: Full sun, Part sun/part shade
Soil or Media:
Leaves: Simple, Alternate, Leathery, Pinnate venation, Lustrous, Elliptic, Undulate (wavy)
Flowers: Flowers clustered, White, Sep-Oct
Fruit: Achene, Drupe, Edible, (Accessory tissue), Red
Key ID Features:
Leaves alternate, most elliptic, 8-10cm long x 4-5cm wide; flowers 5-8mm wide, 4 petal-like sepals, white with brown spots; weak thorns on older stems to 2cm long; variegated cultivars mostly with green margins (unlike E. x ebbingei 'Gilt Edge').