Silverberry
Elaeagnus commutata
Bird foodPollinator plantNitrogen fixer

(c) Ryan Hodnett, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Growing it
| When | Flowers in June; fruits August to September |
|---|---|
| Type | shrub |
| Sun | Full sun |
| Water | Low |
| Soil | pH 6–8.5 |
| Hardiness | zone 2–6 |
| Mature height | 3 m |
| Mature spread | 3 m |
| Spacing | 2 m |
| Years to maturity | 4 |
| Bloom | Jun |
| In bloom | June |
| Fruit | Aug–Sep |
| Native to | AB, SK |
elliptic leaves about 5 cm long; spreads by suckers into a colony
Where it has been recorded
Which ecoregions the records fall in
- Fescue Grassland south AB: 1748 records, high confidence
- Aspen Parkland central AB / SK: 1551 records, high confidence
- Moist Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 669 records, high confidence
- Northern Continental Divide south AB: 372 records, high confidence
- Eastern Continental Ranges central AB: 266 records, high confidence
- Mixed Grassland south AB / SK: 214 records, high confidence
- Western Alberta Upland central AB: 140 records, high confidence
- Cypress Upland south AB / SK: 99 records, high confidence
- Boreal Transition central AB / SK: 70 records, high confidence
- Peace Lowland north AB: 42 records, high confidence
- Slave River Lowland north AB: 14 records, medium confidence
- Mid-Boreal Uplands central AB / SK: 11 records, medium confidence
- Wabasca Lowland north AB: 5 records, low confidence
These are counts of records collected somewhere in the region, which is the resolution of the evidence: the map above shows where inside it. A region with 3 records is not the same claim as one with three hundred, so the count travels with the region. A region missing from this list means nobody has recorded it there, which is not the same as the plant being absent. Records within 900 m of a border count for neither side, because the border is not drawn finely enough to say which one they are on. Source: GBIF occurrence search + PRESERVED_SPECIMEN pass, retrieved 2026-08-24. Boundaries digitised from the National Ecological Framework for Canada v2.2 (Ecological Stratification Working Group 1995), simplified to about 900 m for display: an outline is accurate to roughly a kilometre, not to the metre. How these counts are made.
See every observation, live and current, on GBIF or iNaturalist.
Documented animals
20 documented relationships.
nectar for
- Andrena carlini Clint Otto et al. 2020
- Apamea inordinata Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Clouded Sulphur Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Cosmopepla lintneriana Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Erebia epipsodea Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Erynnis persius Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Exoprosopa eremita Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Hunt's Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Milbert's Tortoiseshell Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Nevada Bumble Bee Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Painted Lady Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Silver-spotted Skipper Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Silvery Blue Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Snowberry Clearwing Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Speyeria edwardsii Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Tharsalea rubidus Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
- Tricoloured Bumble Bee Clint Otto et al. 2020
- Uhler's Arctic Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
fruit for
- Cedar Waxwing Specimen records from iNaturalist.org
Also worth knowing
Safety
Has thorns or prickles; Toxicity not assessed, absence of a warning is not a guarantee of safety
Edible parts
Fruit
Buying it
About $25–$50 per plant (estimate), usually stocked by garden centres. Estimate (shrub default); AB retail as of 2026