Leaf
Liliane Roubaudi, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0
Ebbinge's silverberry
Elaeagnus x ebbingei Hort.
Also known as: Elaeagnus
Family: Elaeagnaceae
3 to 4 m tall
Planted in evergreen hedges, ordinary soils, even poor ones
Flowering: October – November, inconspicuous but very fragrant
Full sun
Part shade
Very hardy, to about -18°C, tolerates poor soils and wind
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
The tiny, almost invisible flowers of Ebbinge's silverberry give off such a powerful scent in autumn that you can smell the hedge from several metres away, long before seeing any flower. Two Elaeagnus with silvery foliage, often used as hedging. The Russian olive loses its leaves in winter and has narrower, grey foliage; Ebbinge's silverberry stays evergreen all year round.
🍃 Leaves
Evergreen, leathery, dark green and shiny above, silvery to brownish beneath, covered in small scales.
🌸 Flowers
Small, creamy white, bell-shaped, very inconspicuous but extremely fragrant
🍎 Fruits
Small oval fruits, red-brown when ripe, generally about 1 to 2 cm, sometimes produced abundantly depending on conditions.
🪵 Bark
Greyish-brown, shoots sometimes slightly spiny
🗺️ Distribution
Garden hybrid; widely planted in France as an evergreen hedge
🐝 Value for pollinators
Very fragrant, nectar-rich autumn flowering, a valuable resource for late bees
✂️ Horticultural uses
Very hardy evergreen hedging shrub, planted for its dense foliage all year round and its extremely fragrant, though discreet, autumn flowering
⚠️ Possible toxicity
Fruit edible; no known toxicity
⚠️ Look-alike species
Ebbinge's silverberry
Elaeagnus x ebbingei
Russian olive
Elaeagnus angustifolia
Two Elaeagnus with silvery foliage, often used as hedging. The Russian olive loses its leaves in winter and has narrower, grey foliage; Ebbinge's silverberry stays evergreen all year round.
🌿 Other Elaeagnaceae to discover
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.
© Floraneo — profile content is protected; reproduction without permission is prohibited. Photos remain under their own licence (see the credit shown on each photo).