Elaeagnus umbellata

Japanese silverberry or umbellata oleaster is a species in the oleaster or Elaeagnaceae family and is native to eastern Asia, from the Himalayas eastward to Japan. It grows as a shrub or small tree, up to 3.5 m tall.

• Leaves are alternate, simple, lanciolate, to 4–10 cm long and 2–4 cm across, with wavy margins; leaves are covered with minute silvery scales when they emerge early in spring, but turn greener above as the scales wear off during the summer. The underside is more intensely covered in the silvery scales, differing from the related E. angustifolia, which remains silvery until it sheds its leaves in the fall.
• Flowers are palish white, fragrant and have a 4-lobed corolla 1 cm long, forming in clusters of 1–7 in late spring.
• Fruit is a round drupe 6–8 mm in diameter; unripe fruit is silvery-scaled and yellow, ripening to red, dotted with silver or brown; berries can be eaten fresh or processed for jam or other condiments.