Kingdom: Plantae
(Unranked): Angiosperms
(Unranked): Eudicots
(Unranked): Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Elaeagnaceae
Genus: Elaeagnus
Species: Elaeagnus
Botanical name: Elaeagnus x reflexa,
Common names: Elaeagnus, Elaeagnus hybrid, Elaeagnus pungens, Elaeagnus glabra, Elaeagnus ‘variegata’
Elaeagnus x reflexa is a hybrid of garden origin, E. pungens x E. glabra. Eleagnus is a very intrusive, smothering, vigorous, spiny, evergreen vine and with support will grow to 20 m tall, with a very tough, suckering rootstock.
Stems are long, arching, tough, with young shoots being brown and scaly and older stems often with spines.
It has oval leaves (45-90 x 15-40 mm) are arranged alternately on the stems, are hairless above, and silvery or brownie-scaly (often densely) underneath.
Small hanging clusters of tiny, whitish, fragrant flowers are sometimes present from March to May followed by a pale reddish-orange fruit (18 x 10 mm) containing one ribbed seed. It grows in shrublands, forest margins, roadsides, wasteland areas and is dispersed by vegetative spread, bird & mammal spread seed.
Its impact on the environment is that it forms large dense stands, smothering regenerating forest & is a problem in forest interiors & light gaps. It displaces native species up to mid-canopy level.
Underside of leaf
Elaeagnus x reflexa stem
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/stem
