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Elaeagnus (commutata)

Tara Luna
USDI NPS - Glacier National Park
West Glacier, Montana 59936
(406) 888-7835
http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/azpmc
Family Scientific Name: Elaeagnaceae
Family Common Name: Oleaster family
Scientific Name: Elaeagnus commutata Bernh. ex Rydb.
Common Synonym: Elaeagnus argentea Pursh, non Moench
Common Name: Silverberry
Species Code: ELECOM
Ecotype: Open rocky slopes, Saint Mary, 1600m elevation, Glacier National Park, MT.
General Distribution: E. commutata occurs from B.C. to Quebec, south through the Rocky Mountains to Idaho,Montana and Utah. It is frequently found in moist soils and riparian areas from mid to low elevations.
Propagation Goal: plants
Propagation Method: vegetative
ProductType: Container (plug)
Stock Type: 800 ml containers
Time To Grow: 1 Years
Target Specifications: Stock Type: Container cutting<br> Height: 30 cm<br> Caliper: 5 mm<br> Root System: firm plug in 800 ml containers.
Propagule Collection: Vegetative Propagation Method: Pre-Rooting
Type of Cutting: Spring hardwood and Softwood stem tip cuttings.
Cuttings are collected in mid May. Cuttings collected in mid-May were fully leafed but without flower bud development.
Propagule Processing: Cuttings are kept moist and under refrigeration prior to pre treatment.
Pre-Planting Treatments: Cutting Treatments: Cuttings were cut into 20 to 30 cm lengths, with the base recut and 1/3 of leaves or buds removed. Cuttings were placed in a 2 minute fungicide bath to remove surface pathogens. Cuttings were treated with 4000 ppm Hormex powder and stuck in a mist bed with at least 2 nodes below the surface of the rooting medium. Rooting quality was excellent with this treatment.
Rooting %: 75%
Growing Area Preparation/
Annual Practices for Perennial Crops:		 The outdoor mistbed has automatic intermittent mist that is applied at 6 second intervals every 6 minutes. Too frequent misting will result in leaf and stem rot. Misting frequency is increased or decreased according to daily outdoor temperature and wind. Bottom heat is maintained at 21C with heating cables buried 12 cm beneath rooting medium. Rooting medium is 50% perlite and 50% sand. Mistbed is covered with shadecloth during rooting. After cuttings are potted, they are moved to an outdoor shadehouse for 4 weeks. They are later moved to full sun exposure in the outdoor nursery and are irrigated with Rainbird automatic irrigation system in early morning until containers are thoroughly leached. Average growing season of nursery is from late April after snowmelt until October 15th.
Establishment Phase: Time to Transplant: 8 weeks.
Cuttings that were pre rooted were lifted out of mistbed after adequete root systems were formed. Roots generate from the basal cut.
Length of Establishment Phase: 8 weeks
Active Growth Phase: After cuttings were lifted from the mistbed, they were potted into 800 ml containers. Growing medium used is 70% 6:1:1 milled sphagnum peat, perlite, and vermiculite and 30% coarse sand with Osmocote controlled release fertilizer (13N:13P2O5:13K2O; 8 to 9 month release rate at 21C) and Micromax fertilizer (12%S, 0.1%B, 0.5%Cu, 12%Fe, 2.5%Mn, 0.05%Mo, 1%Zn) at the rate of 2 grams of Osmocote and 1 grams of Micromax per 800 ml container. Cuttings were irrigated after potting and placed in the shadehouse for 4 weeks. After establishment in the shadehouse, plants were moved to full sun exposure in the outdoor nursery.
Length of Active Growth Phase: 12 weeks
Hardening Phase: Plants are fertilized with 10-20-20 liquid NPK at 200 ppm during August and September. Irrigation is gradually reduced in September and October. Plants were given one final irrigation prior to winterization.
Length of Hardening Phase: 8 weeks
Harvesting, Storage and Shipping: Total Time to Harvest: 1 year from cuttings
Harvest Date: May
Storage Conditions: Overwinter in outdoor nursery under insulating foam and snow.
Length of Storage: 5 months
Other Comments: At least 4,000 ppm IBA treatment is needed for high rooting percentages.
E. commutata is a good restoration species for slope and streambank stabilization.
References: Flora of the Pacific Northwest, Hitchcock and Cronquist, University of Washington Press, 7th printing, 1990.
Seeds of the Woody Plants in North America, Young and Young, Dioscorides Press, 1992.
Seeds of the Woody Plants in the United States, Agriculture Handbook No. 450, U.S.F.S., Washington D.C., 1974.
Glacier Park Native Plant Nursery Propagation Records, unpublished.
Growing Colorado Plants from Seed, A State of the Art. Vol. 1: Shrubs, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Ogden, UT., U.S.F.S. General Technical Report INT-103.
Seeds: Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination, Baskin and Baskin, Academic Press, 1998.

Citation:

Luna, Tara; Wick, Dale; Hosokawa, Joy. 2008. Propagation protocol for production of Container (plug) Elaeagnus commutata Bernh. ex Rydb. plants 800 ml containers; USDI NPS - Glacier National Park West Glacier, Montana. In: Native Plant Network. URL: https://NativePlantNetwork.org (accessed 2025/04/20). US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetic Resources.