Elaeagnus multiflora
Template:Short description Template:More footnotes Template:Speciesbox Elaeagnus multiflora, the cherry elaeagnus,[1] cherry silverberry,[2] goumi, gumi, or natsugumi, is a species of Elaeagnus native to China, Korea, Japan and Ukraine.
Description
Elaeagnus multiflora is a deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub or small tree growing to Template:Cvt tall, with a trunk up to Template:Cvt diameter with dark brown bark. The shoots are densely covered in minute red-brown scales. The leaves are ovate to elliptic, Template:Cvt long and Template:Cvt broad, green above, and silvery to orange-brown below with dense small scales.
The flowers are solitary or in pairs in the leaf axils, fragrant, with a four-lobed pale yellowish-white corolla Template:Cvt long; flowering is in mid-spring.
The fruit is a round to oval drupe Template:Cvt long, silvery-scaled orange, ripening red dotted with silver or brown, pendulous on a Template:Cvt peduncle. When ripe in mid- to late summer, the fruit is juicy and edible, with a sweet but astringent taste somewhat similar to that of rhubarb. The skin of the fruit is thin and fragile, making it difficult to transport, thus reducing its viability as a food crop.
As with other species in the genus Elaeagnus, E. multiflora plants are actinorhizal, growing in symbiosis with the bacterium Frankia in the soil. These bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen, making it available in usable form for the host plant, and indirectly for other nearby plants. This feature allows the plant to grow in poorer soils than it could otherwise.
There are several cultivars, such as Gigantea or Daiougoumi,[3] Tillamook or Carmine,[4] Red Gem, Sweet Scarlet,[5] Hortensis,[6] ranked here for fruit size which tends to be opposite for taste. Also there have been some hybridization efforts, leading to the JR1 hybrid,[7] with merits on size and taste.
Uses
This species is occasionally grown in Europe and North America as an ornamental plant and for its fruit. It is an established exotic species in parts of the eastern United States.[8] In China, the leaves of the tree are used as a medicinal plant and a natural remedy for cough, diarrhea, itch, foul sores, and even cancer.[9]
USDA classify the shrub as a medium nitrogen fixer - it improves the soil.[10]
References
External links
- Template:Sister-inline
- Template:Wikispecies-inline
- Template:GRIN
- Japan Tree Encyclopaedia: Natsugumi (Elaeagnus multiflora)
- Template:PFAF
- ↑ Template:BSBI 2007
- ↑ Template:PLANTS
- ↑ https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/77438/elaeagnus-multiflora-gigantea/details
- ↑ https://www.homeorchardeducationcenter.org/arboretum-blog/goumi-berries
- ↑ https://onegreenworld.com/product/sweet-scarlet-2/
- ↑ https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:3004626-4
- ↑ https://www.boisderodebos.be/blog/articles-1/le-futur-du-goumi-du-japon-73
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