goumi (elaeagnus multiflora)

goumi (*elaeagnus multiflora*) is an exceptional cold-hardy fruiting shrub combining delicious fruit, ornamental value, and the unusual ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen.

the berries are one of the plant’s great attractions. ripe goumis are juicy, bright red and conspicuously speckled with silver, with a rich sweet-tart flavor reminiscent of pie cherry, apple, and red currant. the fruit can reach roughly the size of a small pie cherry in selected cultivars, making goumi substantially more satisfying to pick and eat than its relative obscurity in american fruit growing might suggest.

ripeness matters. fruit develops its best sweetness and flavor after it has fully colored and softened; picked prematurely, goumi retains considerably more acidity and astringency. properly ripened fruit is excellent eaten straight from the bush and equally suited to jam, jelly, sauce, pie, syrup, wine, and other preserves.

sweet scarlet

we currently grow ‘sweet scarlet,’ a selected fruiting form of goumi valued for its sweet, flavorful berries and early ripening. the fruit is scarlet red with the characteristic silver speckling of the species, and the shrub can begin bearing remarkably young.

we hope eventually to offer seed-grown goumis as well. seedlings introduce genetic variation in fruit size, flavor, ripening, architecture, and adaptation, making goumi an especially interesting plant for continued selection in northern edible landscapes.

a fruit shrub that makes its own nitrogen

goumi belongs to a relatively small group of woody plants capable of nitrogen fixation. nodules on its roots house *frankia*, nitrogen-fixing actinobacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen into biologically available forms.

this actinorhizal partnership allows goumi to thrive in comparatively lean soils without the heavy nitrogen requirements of many fruit crops. it is an exceptionally useful characteristic in food forests, mixed orchards, hedgerows, and low-input perennial plantings, where goumi can produce a substantial fruit crop while occupying an entirely different nutritional niche from conventional fruit trees.

native ecology

goumi is native to temperate eastern asia, including parts of china, korea, japan, and the russian far east. in its native range it occurs in thickets and open or thin woodland from lowlands into mountain country.

that background translates into an adaptable garden shrub. goumi grows well in full sun but tolerates partial shade, accepts a broad range of soils, and is remarkably cold hardy. good drainage is preferable, but established plants are tough and relatively undemanding.

the shrub develops into a broad, attractive mass of green foliage with striking silvery leaf undersides. small pale flowers appear in spring and are followed by hanging crops of brilliant red, silver-flecked fruit.

goumi therefore earns its place several times over: as a serious edible fruit, a flowering ornamental, a nitrogen-fixing component of perennial plantings, and an unusually resilient shrub for cold-climate food forests.

we grow it because the ecology is fascinating. we keep growing it because the fruit is excellent.