Autumn Olive
Sandy and I were out on the hiking/skiing trails south of Chassell on September 8, 2024 when we found these plants growing in some profusion alongside the trail. They had elongated, deeply-veined leaves, and a very large number of small red berries.
The berries are kind of unusual, red with irregular white speckles on their surface. They were about the size of raisins.
We’d never seen these plants before, which is usually an indication that it is something newly introduced to the area. And after searching for plants with white-speckled red berries, the best candidate is Autumn Olive, Elaeagnus_umbellata.
And, as expected, it is not a native North American plant. It is native to eastern Asia, and started being planted on purpose in the Americas because it grows well in barren areas and poor soils, and so was popular for erosion control. Of course, these traits, along with its profuse seed production and ability to fix nitrogen from the air, mean that it spreads rapidly in disturbed areas and after fires. The berries are edible and popular with wildlife, so while it is classified as an Invasive Species or Noxious Weed in many areas, I personally am not convinced it is a problem here, specifically. While it does displace other plants, the plants that it displaces here in the Upper Peninsula are likely to be imported invasives themselves, and the Autumn Olive is more likely to provide food and shelter for wildlife than those other plants are.
It’s notable that, while it apparently has been invasive outside of its native range, it is just a regular, unexceptional plant in its native Asia. This suggests to me that there is something Back Home that keeps it in check, like an insect or a disease. So, once it has been fairly common in North America for a while, I fully expect something to learn to eat it or some disease to jump the species barrier and infect it. And at that moment, it will cease to be a seriously invasive plant.
Somewhat unusually for this kind of plant, the berries are reportedly edible to humans. Wikipedia says they can be eaten fresh, used for jams and preserves, or used as a substitute for tomatoes (?) in recipes. I did taste one, and it was fairly sour (but not exceptionally so). I’m not so sure about that “substitute for tomatoes” bit, it didn’t taste like any tomato I’ve ever eaten, but I suppose one can get away with a lot once spices are involved. And given the profusion of berries on the plants, it would certainly be easy enough to pick them in sufficient quantities to do something with.
In SE Michigan they are everywhere in disturbed young forested areas, along with Glossy Buckthorn and Honeysuckle. I didn’t know the berries were edible. I need to try them next year! As winter begins, you can see who manages their forested areas near the road because many of the invasives hold their leaves well after the first killing frost. Many of them also leaf out earlier in spring.
I wouldn’t count on any control organism arriving on it’s own before the plant becomes a problem. Campaigns to eradicate Autumn Olive from public land in Maine are ongoing.
In the northeast we also have lots of barberry naturalized from ornamental plantings (now highly discouraged). It’s berries are also edible, birds and rodents spread them, and dense thorny thickets are created in a few years. Apparently due to the prolific fruiting and dense growth, mice will nest under them providing good place for the deer ticks to live that part of it’s life cycle. Lyme disease carried by the deer tick is a major problem in Maine now.