Elaeagnus angustifolia
Narrow Elaeagnus ( Elaeagnus angustifolia) in Saratov Oblast, Russia.
The Narrow Elaeagnus ( Elaeagnus angustifolia) is a flowering plant in the family of oil willow family ( Elaeagnaceae ).
Description
Habit
This species is a deciduous, densely branched and sparrig bedornter shrub or small tree usually with broad crown, which reaches a height of from two to five meters, rarely up to seven meters; in exceptional cases even higher. The young twigs and buds are densely covered with silvery shield hair, acting like a silvery, wipe-clean coating. The twigs and branches are thin berindet, reddish brown with verdornten short sprouts.
The alternate, stalked leaves are narrowly lanceolate, leathery and are 4-8 inches long. They are rounded in front acute or obtuse, cuneate at the base, above, gray-green and glabrous, underside silvery gray, densely covered with whitish stellate hairs.
Flowers
The flowers are short-stalked and are available individually or in two to four in the leaf axils at the bottom of the branches. The hermaphrodite or purely male flowers have a diameter of up to 1 centimeter. Petals absent. The sepals are pale yellow inside, outside hairy silvery and smell pleasantly of leather. Bloom time is from May to July.
Fruits
The bright yellow fruits are 1-2 cm long and are oval to cylindrical false berries. These are tasted very fragrant and edible. Fruit ripening starts from July. In Central Europe, however, fruits are formed rather rare.
Location and Ecology
As the site riparian woodlands in lakes and rivers, forest edges, thickets are preferred in a sunny location for a loose, slightly moist soils. The Narrow Ölweide lives in symbiosis ( the so-called Aktinorrhiza ) with air nitrogen-fixing Frankia bacteria.
Pollination of flowers is usually done by bees. After flowering, dies from the upper part of the calyx tube, the lower part surrounding the adolescent ovary. The inner parts of corolla tube are rock hard, the outer mealy - fleshy, so that the fruit a drupe similar.
Dissemination
This species is native to the central Asia and was introduced in the 17th century in the Mediterranean and is widely used there today far. In Central Europe the Rosebay willow oil is often cultivated as an ornamental plant and is at times wild.
This species was introduced in 1800 in North America and feral in places, which applies as in Europe this type there as well as a neophyte.
Use
This type bears forming section and then very dense hedges and is thus ideal as a windbreak. Likewise, it is planted on sand dunes to the slope fixing and greening, as well as slip inhibitors. It applies not only as less sensitive to air pollution, but also bear relatively high concentrations of salts in the soil of all kinds. In particular, it is resistant to road salt. However, she does not tolerate severe frosts, especially in late spring.
For bees and other Hymenoptera, the flowers are a rich costume.
In the East, the dried, nutty -tasting fruits are eaten as food. In cultivated varieties, the fruit can be 2 cm long and 1 cm thick. They contain 10-55 % protein and are rich in glucose, fructose, potassium and phosphorus.
The fragrances of the flowers will be used in the perfume industry.
The amber-colored honey is very aromatic.
Swell
- Dietmar Aichele, Renate Aichele, Heinz -Werner Schwegler: cosmos nature guide. Which tree is it? Trees, shrubs, ornamental trees. 24th edition, Franckh cosmos, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-440-06570-7.
- Peter A. Schmidt, Ulrich Hecker: Pocket Encyclopaedia of trees and shrubs, Quelle & Meyer, 2009, ISBN 978-3-494-01448-7
- Roth / Kormann: Scented Plants Plants fragrances, econmed - Verlag, 1996, ISBN 3-609-65140-7