Hello, Could you please help me identify this wonderfully smelling bush ? Its fragrance actually comes from its small 4-triangular petal flowers. The bush was about 180 cm high (6 feet) and growing at the edge of a forest in Belgium. This picture was taken two weeks ago ). At first, I thought this might be Laurel Nobilis but the flowers seem very different from the pictures of it found online. Another Laurel maybe ? Thank you very much in advance ! Jean-Francois
Cross-checking it now with other sources, I believe you are correct. Thank you very much Woodschmoe, you made my day ! JF
Elaeagnus, yes, but not E. umbellata. More likely Elaeagnus × ebbingei, a popular garden hybrid. BTW, Elaeagnus is not an olive as stated above; olive is the genus Olea.
Yes, ebbingei; it struck me as more likely after the fact. As for the olive/olea thing, I was merely forwarding the common name. A cornus kousa 'Big Apple' isn't an apple, a Russian Olive isn't an olea, and a Jerusalem artichoke isn't an artichoke. Nevertheless, when describing the variety, gotta report it like it is. The inclusion of the latin name first ought to be sufficient to clarify.
But by calling it an olive, you're promoting its transfer to Olea umbellata. A lot of people pay more attention to the English name than they do to the scientific name.
The way I see it, common names do exist and people do use them. Plant labels use them too. As do botanical descriptions. Not that they are all that appropriate botnaically. For our own education, we should not ignore it. Unless we set out to change the world and educate everybodyh not to use those references, we need to accept it. In other words, I would like to know that Elaeagnus × ebbingei is also known as "Autumn Olive", so that if someone were to mention the name to me, I wouldn't waste my time searching for it amongst the ranks of Olea. I believe Woodschmoe's intention was'nt to promote its transfer to the Olea family. He is simply stating the fact that it is also referred to by its common name of "Autumn Olive". I have a couple of these in my backyard. In my search for information, the names "Autumn Olive" is commonly mentioned. A less oft used name is "Autumnberry". "Russian olive" is Elaeagnus angustifolia L - another non-olive olive.
Yes: >But by calling it an olive, you're promoting its transfer to Olea umbellata< is a complete artifice, a statement of an occurrence that does not exist. As is insisting that use of common names for plants in the US that are not the same as those used in Britain etc. is an attempt by Americans to force the use of these names overseas. Probably most Americans using common names do not know what other common names might be used for the same plants elsewhere, let alone do they have some kind of plant common name agenda they are trying to pursue.
