Autumn Berry Inspired a field guide to the autumn olive
Painted plate of a fruiting autumn olive branch: alternate silver-green leaves, several turned to show silvery undersides, and crowded clusters of red berries flecked with gold at each leaf joint.
  1. LeavesOne per joint, alternating; smooth edges.
  2. UndersidePowdery silver beneath, silver-green above.
  3. ClustersFruit crowds the twig at each leaf joint.
  4. SpecklesRed fruit, flecked with silver and gold.
Plate 1 · AutumnAutumn oliveElaeagnus umbellata

October. Ripe: August to November in Central Illinois. Taste each tree first.

  1. LeavesOne per joint, alternating; smooth edges.
  2. UndersidePowdery silver beneath, silver-green above.
  3. ClustersFruit crowds the twig at each leaf joint.
  4. SpecklesRed fruit, flecked with silver and gold.

Harvest every one. Plant none.

The autumn berry is the sweet-tart fruit of autumn olive, an invasive shrub. Learn to know it, pick it, and never spread it.

How to harvest What is this berry?
Painted sprig of bush honeysuckle: leaves in opposite pairs, glossy red berries in pairs.

Bush honeysuckle

Glossy berries in pairs; leaves in pairs.

Not this
Painted sprig of common buckthorn with black berries and a thorn at the twig tip.

Common buckthorn

Black berries; thorn-tipped twigs.

Not this

Know it before you pick it.

Autumn olive grows along fencerows, field edges, highways and riverbanks. Set it beside the plants people mistake it for.

Map of the lower 48 states with the eastern and central states stippled green, showing where autumn olive is established.
U.S. range, generalized: the eastern and central states. Also established in southeastern Canada.

Autumn olive

Elaeagnus umbellata
Edible, once confirmed
Bush honeysuckle sprig with paired leaves and paired glossy red berries.

Bush honeysuckle

Lonicera maackii
Not edible
MarkAutumn oliveBush honeysuckle
LeavesOne per joint, alternating. Silver underneath.In opposite pairs. Green on both sides, with a long pointed tip.
FruitRed, flecked with gold and silver speckles, in crowded clusters.Glossy, translucent red, no speckles, sitting in pairs.

Autumn olive

Elaeagnus umbellata
Edible, once confirmed
Common buckthorn sprig with finely toothed leaves, black berries and a thorn at the tip.

Common buckthorn

Rhamnus cathartica
Not edible
MarkAutumn oliveCommon buckthorn
LeavesAlternating, smooth-edged, silver underneath.Opposite or nearly so, finely toothed, veins curving toward the tip.
FruitRed and speckled.Black and glossy.
TwigsSilvery-brown and scaly.Often end in a small, sharp thorn.

Autumn olive

Elaeagnus umbellata
Edible, once confirmed
Pokeweed stem, bright magenta, with a long drooping cluster of dark purple berries.

Pokeweed

Phytolacca americana
Toxic
MarkAutumn olivePokeweed
PlantA woody shrub or small tree.A tall, soft-stemmed plant with bright magenta stems.
FruitSmall, round, red, speckled, along the twigs.Dark purple-black and slightly flattened, in long drooping clusters.

Autumn olive

Elaeagnus umbellata
Edible, once confirmed
Russian olive sprig with very narrow silvery leaves, thorns and oval tan fruit.

Russian olive

Elaeagnus angustifolia
Edible, but dry
MarkAutumn oliveRussian olive
LeavesSilver-green on top, silver underneath.Very narrow and silvery on both sides.
FruitPlump, juicy and red.Sweet but dry and flossy, yellowish to silvery tan.
Two autumn olive leaves, one face up and silver-green, one face down and silvery white with rusty dots.
Plate 2Leaf, above and below.
Two enlarged autumn berries, one whole and speckled, one cut open to show a single pale ribbed seed.
Plate 3One seed per berry: soft, ribbed, edible, with a light almond taste.
Autumn olive in flower: clusters of small creamy tubular blossoms along a silvery twig.
Plate 4In flower, the spring before: fragrant and creamy.

Look at plenty of pictures, and ask an expert before eating anything unfamiliar. These plates help you look; an experienced forager confirms.

Tick the marks.

Hold a branch in your hand and work down the list. Each mark you tick is circled on the plate.

Painted plate of a fruiting autumn olive branch with silver-green leaves and clusters of red, gold-flecked berries.
Plate 1bRipe, the same branch as above.

Five marks, all of them.Tick each one you can see on the branch in front of you.

Two enlarged autumn berries, one whole and speckled, one cut open to show a single pale ribbed seed.
One seed per berry.

Foraging rules, and a request.

Eat as many as you like. Just don't help the tree travel.

Be sure what it is.

Before eating any wild food, have it properly identified by an experienced forager.

Don't mistake honeysuckle, pokeberry, buckthorn, or any other inedible or toxic fruit for autumn berries.

Take only what you need.

Ask permission from the landowner, and from the plant itself.

Don't eat wild food that grew somewhere unclean.

Never spread it.

Autumn olive is considered invasive in North America. Where it grows now, it flourishes. It shouldn't go anywhere new.

Planting it is against the law in some places, and poor land stewardship everywhere else.

Above all, thank the planet for a delicious and nutritious gift.

Ripe is a taste, not a date.

Berries turn red before they're ready, and unripe ones dry out your whole mouth. Taste every tree; when a few berries are good, the rest of that tree will be too.

Different trees ripen days or weeks apart, which stretches the harvest. Don't wait for the first frost: by then, wind and birds have taken most of the crop.
JunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Central Illinois
More on finding the sweet spot 
A child's hand in a pink sleeve and an adult's hand, each holding a small pile of autumn berries.
Plate 5aThe same handful, two ages.

It was growing there the whole time.

Most of us drive past it. Autumn olive grows along fencerows, field edges and highway ramps in the places we already live, and nearly all of its fruit goes uneaten.

Picking it is a child's afternoon for a grown-up: a stick, a tarp, stained fingers, a taste straight off the branch. For a child it is a grown-up's job: real work that fills a real bag with real food.

Once you can name the shrub beside your road, you start to notice what else is within reach, and what you've been walking past. Looking costs nothing. Here's what we think it's about.

A new flavor in familiar food.

Since 2010 we've worked with food artisans in Central Illinois, Chicago and beyond to put autumn berries into:

  • Jam
  • Dried fruit snacks
  • Chia pudding
  • Ice cream
  • Doughnuts
  • Salad dressing
  • Cream cheese spread
  • BBQ sauce
  • Beer
  • Mead
  • Wine
A sheet of red autumn berry fruit leather scored into strips and scattered with pumpkin seeds.
Plate 5Fruit leather with pumpkin seeds.
Two jugs of autumn berry puree on a counter beside a cone of pink sorbet.
Plate 6Sorbet by Red Bicycle Ice Cream.
Three jars of Autumn Berry Jam, original, jalapeño and habanero, with fresh peppers.
Plate 7Jam: original, jalapeño, habanero.
A stack of clear cups of autumn berry chia pudding held up against a yellow food truck.
Plate 8Chia pudding, Just Bee Acai.
A beer tap handle labeled Autumn Berry Saison.
Plate 9Autumn Berry Saison, on tap.
A platter of crostini with a card reading Crostini with Ludwig Gournay and Autumn Berry Jam.
Plate 10Crostini with Ludwig Gournay cheese.

Cook with it: four recipe films  Who else has cooked with it 

Dustin Kelly standing among autumn olive shrubs, holding up a jug of autumn berry puree in each hand.
Plate 11Dustin Kelly with a season's puree.

Make jam, not war.

Autumn olive is a problem people made, and it is also a resource nobody is using. We started Autumn Berry Inspired to promote the fullest use of what's already here, and to start a chain reaction of planet-saving projects.

Dustin and his team worked out how to harvest and process the berries, and they share those methods freely so more people get out, connect with their local land, enjoy it, and look after it.

Our story