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.