Elaeagnus submacrophylla Crispy® - Ebbinge's silverberry

Elaeagnus x submacrophylla Crispy® is an evergreen oleaster derived from the same hybrid as the classic Elaeagnus x ebbingei, but selected for its silvery-green wavy foliage, which is distinctly more textured. Its long, silvery leaves with crinkled margins give the shrub a lively, textured appearance that forms with flatter foliage lack. Vigorous and highly tolerant of drought, wind, and salt spray, this oleaster is suitable for windbreak hedges and large ornamental borders, which it gently perfumes in autumn.

Elaeagnus Crispy® belongs to the Elaeagnaceae family. The hybrid Elaeagnus × submacrophylla, known as Ebbing's oleaster or Ebbing's silverberry, encompasses what was formerly called Elaeagnus × ebbingei. This hybrid is a cross-breeding between Elaeagnus macrophylla and E. pungens, two shrubs native to the coasts of Japan and Korea. It was identified in the early 20th century, then selected and disseminated from 1928 by the Dutch dendrologist Simon Doorenbos in The Hague.
Crispy® is a selection obtained in France by David Long and introduced to the market in 2020. It is a long-lived evergreen shrub. This shrub is bushy, well-branched from the base, rather upright in the centre and slightly spreading at the periphery. Its growth is rapid; a young plant easily gains several tens of centimetres per year. After a few years, it reaches 2.50 m to 3 m in height and 2.50 m to 3 m in width.
The leathery leaves are elliptical to oblong and reach about 10 cm in length. At the bud burst period, they are almost entirely silvery-grey, covered with small scales that reflect the light. As they age, their upper surface becomes dark green, while retaining a fine silvery pit; their silvery reverse creates metallic reflections when the wind stirs the branches. Their margin is distinctly wavy, slightly curly. The young shoots are rust-brown.
Flowering occurs in autumn, from September to October, sometimes later in a Mediterranean climate. Small cream-white flowers, bell-shaped with four lobes, form in groups in the axil of the leaves on the current year's shoots. They are small, but emit a sweet scent often compared to that of jasmine or hyacinth, which diffuses around. Like other Ebbing's oleasters, Crispy® produces oblong fruits in spring, first green then coppery-red when ripe.
The root system is dense, rather shallow, with no tendency to sucker. The roots harbour bacteria capable of fixing nitrogen from the air, which allows the shrub to thrive in poor, sandy, or stony soils. This is one of the reasons for its performance in difficult conditions.

In the garden, Elaeagnus x submacrophylla Crispy® is primarily used to create an evergreen hedge that is more decorative than a simple green oleaster hedge. In a border, it forms a good backdrop for flowering shrubs. For example, it can be associated with Photinia fraseri 'Pink Marble', with its pink and cream young shoots, or with Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Tricolor’, with its variegated foliage. In a dry garden, it accompanies laurustinus and the elegant Rhamnus alaternus 'Argenteovariegata', the white-variegated Italian buckthorn.

The ovate, coppery coloured fruits of Elaeagnus x ebbingei are edible and very rich in vitamins and minerals. They are harvested in late winter or spring, once they are fully ripe. Pruning the shrub in late summer will compromise the autumn flowering and fruit production.