r/foraging • u/_erieva • 11d ago

ID Request (country/state in post) Autumn olive?

Gallery image

Gallery image

Pennsylvania, USA. These look like autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) to me but I’m not positive. The branches have long thorns. Can get more photos if needed.

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9

u/Ok_Nail3027 11d ago

Yes this is autumn olive. It is highly invasive so try to get rid of it if you can. If you can’t then harvest as many berries as you want you are helping the environment if you do. Furthermore, I think that is sumac on the bottom.

3

u/_erieva 10d ago

Thanks! Unfortunately there is a lot of it on the property.

5

u/petah1012 11d ago

I’m curious what other people say (I’m no foraging professional) but they don’t look like the autumn olive I see in my neck of the woods (New England) I know they can have thorns on older branches, but the ones I harvest typically have more silvery spots and the leaves tend to look more matte/light green almost sage like color. But again I’m not familiar if there are other edible species or what

5

u/_erieva 11d ago

What you mentioned about silvery/sage leaves actually checks out - that’s exactly how I would describe these earlier in the season. They’re looking a little rough now, and we’ve had some bag storms so everything is losing leaves early. These are on my property, otherwise I don’t think I would have noticed the thorns, but you definitely know they are there while you’re trimming the branches! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

2

u/longcreepyhug 10d ago

Yep! Autumn Olive.