Goumi

Family

Elaeagnaceae

Habit

Shrub

Height

4.5 m

Spread

5 m

Growth

fast

Lifespan

120 years

First yield

after 5 years

Yield per plant

up to 10 kg a year

Yield in cultivation

up to 5 t/ha

Energy yield

450 kcal per m² a year

Hardiness

zone 3–8

Shade tolerance

light shade

Soil

Sand, Silt, Loam

Soil moisture

very dry – very moist

pH

5 – 7.5

Synonyms

Goumi, Ölweide

Times apply to the northern hemisphere in a temperate climate and shift with altitude and cultivar.

Edible: The fruit ripens from late June into July or August. It is cylindrical, about 1.5 centimetres long and 1.3 centimetres wide, dimpled at both ends, deep dark red and covered in small silvery scales; it hangs from strikingly long, thread-like stalks of two to three centimetres. The flesh is juicy and tastes, depending on ripeness and provenance, pleasantly tart to sweet, clearly astringent when unripe. Sugars, fruit acids and vitamin C dominate its composition. Fresh eating is largely a matter for standing at the bush, since the fruit barely keeps — once picked it has to be processed promptly. Jam and jelly are the usual products, often blended with cherry, currant or apple, alongside preserves and fruit liqueurs. The soft stone can be eaten along with the flesh or cooked like a small lentil.

Medicinal: Blüten: adstringierend, kardial und stimulierend Samen: hilfreich bei Husten, Öl für Lungenaffektionen Frucht: reich an Mineralien, Vitaminen (insbesondere ACE), Flavonoiden, bioaktiven Verbindungen und essentiellen Fettsäuren; stärkt das Herz, wirkt antikrebs Die Blüten haben adstringierende, kardiale und stimulierende Eigenschaften. Die Samen sind nützlich bei Husten und das Öl kann bei Lungenaffektionen helfen. Die Frucht ist reich an Mineralien, Vitaminen (insbesondere ACE), Flavonoiden, bioaktiven Verbindungen und essentiellen Fettsäuren. Sie stärkt das Herz und hat antikarzinogene Eigenschaften.

Other uses: Beyond its fruit, goumi is above all a shrub with a job. As a nitrogen fixer it improves poor and raw soils and is used accordingly in shelter plantings, on banks and in land reclamation. Its dense, wind-firm growth and its indifference to drought, wind and urban conditions make it a serviceable windbreak and informal hedge plant. As an ornamental it pays twice over: in May through the scented clusters of flowers, in summer through the fruit hanging on long stalks, with the silver-scaled leaf undersides flashing in the wind throughout. The wood plays no part; the plant stays too small and too many-stemmed to be worth working.

Site: Sun to light shade, though yields are distinctly better in full sun — the cultivar 'Red Cherry' requires a fully sunny position. At two to three, rarely five metres tall and about as wide, the shrub needs real room and belongs as a specimen, in groups or in an informal hedge rather than in a clipped one. Because it fixes atmospheric nitrogen through root symbiosis it makes a useful neighbour for hungry fruit trees and an improver of poor soil. It does not sucker, and self-seeding is no issue in Central Europe. The strongly scented May flowers draw large numbers of insects; for reliable fruit set add a second seedling. Care: The shrub is undemanding and needs no feeding — nitrogen only pushes soft growth and delays ripening of the wood, which costs winter hardiness. A thinning cut straight after harvest is enough, cutting into old wood rather than fruiting wood. No diseases or pests have appeared here so far, but severe winters can cause frost damage down into the wood, so young plants in harsh situations want a sheltered spot and stem protection for the first few winters. Drought and wind are taken in stride. Harvest runs from late June into August, by picking or by shaking onto a cloth; birds take a generous share, so netting is worthwhile on small shrubs.

Seed is the easiest route: wash the stones out of fully ripe fruit at once, since adhering pulp inhibits germination, then stratify them, keeping them moist and cold over winter. This does not give plants true to cultivar — 'Sweet Scarlet' or 'Red Gem' are whip-grafted in late winter onto seedlings of Elaeagnus multiflora or Elaeagnus umbellata. Semi-ripe summer cuttings root only under cover and even then unreliably. Root suckers, the easy route with other oleasters, are not produced by this species. Seedlings usually flower from their third or fourth year in place.

The real value of goumi lies in its timing: the white flowers, yellowing as they fade, open in May in great numbers, carry a strong scent and are worked by honeybees, wild bees and other insects — at a point when the flower supply in many gardens has fallen away after the fruit blossom. The deep red fruits ripen from late June into August, ahead of most native berry bushes, and thrushes and other soft-fruit eaters take them readily. The dense, many-stemmed habit offers cover and nesting opportunities at shrub level. Through its root symbiosis with actinomycetes it also enriches the soil with nitrogen and so improves conditions for its neighbours.

Besonderheiten: dürre+(meeres)wind+schnittverträglich sehr aromatische Blüten, die sehr beliebt sind bei (Wild+)Bienen&Schmetterlingen verbessert den Boden und erhöht die Erträge umliegender Pflanzen um 10%, bevorzugt sandigere, basische nährstoffarme Böden; Eine Quelle gibt bis zu 40kg Früchte pro Busch an.

East Asia: Japan, China, Korea. There the goumi occupies thickets, woodland edges and clearings in lowlands and hills. It was taken into East Asian gardens early on from Japan; the common second name gumi is Japanese. It reached Europe in the 19th century as an ornamental and has only been traded as a fruiting shrub for a few decades. Larger plantings exist in Ukraine and Russia, from where the large-fruited selections 'Sweet Scarlet' and 'Red Gem' were distributed via the botanical garden in Kyiv. In Central Europe it remains a connoisseur's plant and, unlike the narrow-leaved oleaster, shows no tendency to escape.

Goumi comes from the warm-summer, high-rainfall climate of East Asia, growing in thickets, along woodland edges and in clearings of the lowlands and hills. It is a pioneer shrub: its roots live in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing actinomycetes, so it establishes on poor, raw and sandy ground and feeds nitrogen back into its surroundings. Slightly acid to mildly alkaline substrates suit it equally well; it avoids only waterlogging and badly compacted soil. Unlike its relatives it produces no suckers, staying put as a many-stemmed clump about as wide as it is tall.