Autumn Olive

Autumn Olive
Elaeagnus umbellata

Autumn Olive is one of those invasive species that was purposely introduced to the United States for its beneficial traits, but then became a serious problem.  In the early 1800's, it was common practice and encouraged to move plants to new places to make the world a better place, for humans.  The three worst examples on my property, and in the area, are Autumn Olive, Honeysuckle, and Multiflora Rose.  All three of these were used to improve wildlife habitat and erosion control.  Now they are considered to just be a nuisance.

Autumn Olive has the ability to fix nitrogen, thus enabling it to thrive in poor soils, particularly soils depleted by human activity; surface mines and construction areas are often cited.  They were used extensively as erosion control along highways.  Due to this ability to fix nitrogen, it can significantly alter the soil and groundwater, not necessarily for the better.  Lots of studies have been done on its impact and find that it puts lots of nitrate in the soil, which can leach into the waterways.

Given the huge amount of human disturbance to the soils of Indiana, it's hard to say if the effects of Autumn Olive are deleterious or not.  It is nice to see that a lot of research is being done on this topic.

One good thing about Autumn Olive are the berries.  If you can get them at the point where they are ripe but before the birds get them, they are delicious.  They're small and have a big seed in the middle, so they're best for making juice, which can then be made into jelly or other tasty items.

The flowers have this unusual shape which makes them easy to ID.

The berries can be quite prolific one year, then almost absent the next.