wavyleaf silktassel Garryaceae Garrya elliptica Douglas ex Lindl. Listen to the Latin   symbol: GAEL
Other Fact Sheets
Leaf: Opposite, simple, evergreen and leathery, ovate, to 3 1/2 inches, entire and obviously wavy revolute margins, shiny dark green above, pale woolly-pubescent below and on the short petiole.
Flower: Dioecious; produced in silky drooping spikes (tassels), 2 to 5 inches long, lacking petals, pale purple and yellow, appearing mid-winter.

Fruit: Several round berry-like drupes borne in pairs on 1 1/2 to 3 inch-long tassels, individual berries 1/4 inch, purple-blue but covered in silky white pubescence, somewhat persistent.

Twig: Moderate to stout, new growth is green and covered in pale pubescence, becoming brown, twigs may be 4-angled.

Bark: Gray-brown and initially smooth, becoming irregularly rough.

Form: Commonly an arching or irregular shrub to 10 feet, on very good sites may develop into a small tree (to 30 feet).
 
USDA Plants Database
Garrya elliptica is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. See states reporting wavyleaf silktassel (opens a new window).

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