Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-045
Silverberry
Elaeagnus commutata
Silverberry is a nitrogen-fixing shrub native to the cold northern reaches of Canada and the northern Rockies, where it suckers into thickets dense enough that moose, deer and elk lean on it for a large share of their winter browse. Its dry, mealy fruit is too astringent to eat until dead ripe, but makes a decent jelly or soup once it gets there. It needs a real winter and fails wherever summers run hot, so the limiting factor is heat, not cold.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 2–6
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained · Moderate
Vertical layer
Shrub- Soil pH
- 6–8.5
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 7–12 ft
- Mature spread
- 5–12 ft
- Plant spacing
- 5.1–6 ft
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- Both
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
American Beautyberry
Callicarpa americana
American Beautyberry is an arching deciduous shrub of rich woods, moist thickets and swamp edges across the southeastern and south-central…
Shrub · USDA 6–10
American Black Currant
Ribes americanum
American black currant is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub native to the cooler parts of eastern and central North America, from Alberta to…
Shrub · USDA 3–7
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
American Elderberry gives two harvests a year - creamy flower clusters in June for cordial, fritters and tea, and purple-black berries in…
Shrub · USDA 4–8
American Hazelnut
Corylus americana
American Hazelnut is a thicket-forming shrub that bears small, thick-shelled nuts good raw or cooked, and it pollinates itself, so a single…
Shrub · USDA 4–9
American Plum
Prunus americana
American Plum forms dense thorny thickets by suckering from its own roots, spreading itself into a hedge across most of temperate North…
Shrub · USDA 3–8
Antelope Bitterbrush
Purshia tridentata
Antelope Bitterbrush is a slow-growing desert shrub that western wildlife depend on for winter forage - cattle, pronghorn, deer and elk all…
Shrub · USDA 3–8
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference