Olive plant Tizam

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of olive plant, which was discovered by me as a seedling variant growing on my cultivated property at Perry, Ohio. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel cultivar of Elaeagnues umbellata having unusually upright growth and a width at maturity of 5 feet.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of olive plant, 
which was discovered by me in 1976 as a seedling variant growing on my 
cultivated property at Perry, Ohio. More particularly, the present 
invention relates to a novel cultivar of Elaeagnus umbellata having 
unusual and distinctive characteristics, which is identified by the 
varietal reference Tizam. 
BACKGROUND OF THE PLANT 
The Elaeagnus umbellata plant is of the family elaeagneae. The seed parent 
of my novel cultivar is believed to be Elaeagnus umbellata and the pollen 
parent is unknown. The seed parent is 12 to 18 feet high and 12 to 18 
feet, sometimes 20 to 30 feet wide. The leaves are alternate, simple and 
entire. The leaf shape is elliptic to oblong-ovate and varies from 1 to 4 
inches in length. The leaf is bright green on the upperside surface and 
silver green on the underside surface. The flowers are funnel-shaped, 
yellowish white, fragrant and 1/2 inch long. The flowers are borne 
clustered in groups in the leaf axil. The flowers occur in May to June. 
The globose fruit is silvery mixed with brown scales turning red while 
ripening in September to October. The fruit is 1/4 to 1/3 inch in 
diameter. This plant generally has a habit which is spreading.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED PLANT VARIETY 
In this invention, my new Elaeagnus plant is an olive plant with a strong 
compact upright growth habit. As contrasted with the Elaeagnus umbellata 
species in general, my new plant is about one half the species size under 
similar growing conditions. As contrasted with the Elaeagnus umbellata, my 
new plant exhibits a more strong upright habit as seen in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 
4, and 7. My new plant is more upright than spreading, which gives it a 
compact oval appearance. 
Asexual reproduction of my new olive plant was performed at Perry, Ohio, 
Zone 5, by taking softwood cuttings for summer propagation, of which 
approximately 98% rooted and grew. The cuttings exhibited the same form 
and growth habit, and had the same strong upright branching habit as 
described above. Subsequent propagations exhibited the same growth habit. 
Such reproduction shows the foregoing characteristics and distinctions 
take place and are established and transmitted through succeeding 
propagations of the olive plant. 
The following is a specific description by way of a specific example of 
such a new olive cultivar, color terminology being referenced to The Royal 
Horticultural Society Colour Chart, London, England, 1966, hereinafter 
referred to as R.H.S. Colour Chart. 
Leaves: The leaves are alternate, simple and entire. The leaves have a 
shape that is elliptic to oblong-ovate, with crisped margin. The length of 
the leaf blade varies from 1 to 4 inches and the width varies form 3/4 to 
11/2 inches. The leaf tip is obtuse to short-acuminate, and the leaf base 
is rounded to broadly cuneate. The young leaf normally has silver scales 
on the uppermost surface, although it is sometimes glabrous, and matures 
to a medium green. The hue and intensity of the color vary depending on 
the soil the plant is grown in. The leaf's underside is silver in color, 
interspersed with brown scales. The leaf is green (R.H.S. Colour Chart 
Green Group 139B) on the upperside surface and green (R.H.S. Colour Chart 
Greyed Green Group 188A-D) on the upperside surface in mid season. The 
petiole length averages around 1/3 inch. 
Shrub: The plant at maturity may have a height of approximately 12 feet 
with the spread being approximately 5 feet giving the overall appearance 
of the plant being more upright that spreading. Immature twigs are 
yellowish brown with a silver sheen, darkening in winter to cinnamon brown 
at the tips. The densely packed scales create a speckled appearance. The 
leaf buds are covered with cinnamon brown scales in contrast to the 
yellowish silver branchlet. Second-year wood is silvery brown with brown 
scales, and frequent spines. 
Flower: The flowers occur in May to June in the leaf axil when the young 
leaves are about 1/3 grown. The flowers are clustered in groups of 1 to 3 
or more, and are fragrant. Each flower is 1/2 inch long, tubular or 
funnel-shaped with the tube much longer than the limb. The 4 short-stalked 
stamens are attached to the top of the tube, which is yellowish white in 
color inside (R.H.S. Colour Chart White Group 155A), and covered with 
silver scales on the outside. The style is scaly and the 4 lobes are 
expanded. 
Fruit: The fruit is a single-seeded drupe which is globose or sub-globose 
to ovoid in shape. The fruit color is silver mixed with brown scales, 
finally turning red (R.H.S. Colour Chart Red Group 44A) when ripe in 
September to October. The fruit is prolific, nearly encircling the stem, 
on 1/4 to 1/2 inch long stalks. The fruit is each 1/4 to 1/3 inch in 
diameter. 
The characteristics of my new plant which distinguishes it from Elaeagnus 
umbellata is strong upright branching to form a compact oval, as best 
shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 7. 
A further important and distinguishing characteristic of the present plant 
variety is that it has a width of approximately 5 feet at maturity.