| Shape | A bushy small tree to large shrub. |
| Landscape | A very salt tolerant species, often used as coastal windbreaks or to stabilize dunes. Also makes an excellent border or screen. |
| Propagation | Propagate by seed (although the offspring will be variable), or by semi-hardwood or hardwood cuttings. |
| Cultivation | Grow in a moist but well-drained, medium soil in full sun. A male pollinator must be planted nearby in order for fruit to be produced. The plant is able to fix atmospheric nitrogen and thus its suitability for poor or lean soils. Arch pruning by bending down young stems in autumn and removing after fruit set the following season will, with repeated applications help maintain a compact plant. |
| Pests | Generally pest and disease free. |
| Notable Specimens | The Devonian Botanic Garden, Devon, Alberta, Canada. Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington, Ontario, Canada. |
| Habitat | Frequently found along coastal areas where it is tolerant of salt spray or in very dry areas where it can out-compete other woody plant species. |
| Bark/Stem Description | Twigs are initially scaly, later becoming grey, with apical and lateral thorns. |
| Leaf Description | Leaves are silver to bronze, olive-like, scaly throughout, and are narrow, growing to 1-6 x 0.3-1 cm. |
| Flower Description | Male flowers are green, growing to 4 mm in diameter. Female flowers are solitary or in short racemes, to 1.5 mm in diameter, appearing with the first leaves. male and female flowers are found on separate plants thus a male must be planted alongside a female fro fruit to be produced. |
| Fruit Description | Fruit grows to 6-8 mm, are orange and ovoid, with a single brown seed. The fruit clothes the bare branches in the winter and are quite persistent.. |
