Elaeagnus convexolepidota Hayata; E. coreana H. Léveillé; E. crispa Thunberg; E. crocea Nakai; E. fragrans Nakai; E. higoensis Nakai; E. longipes A. Gray var. crispa (Thunberg) Maximowicz; E. obovata H. L. Li; E. parvifolia Wallich ex Royle; E. salicifolia D. Don ex Loudon; E. umbellata var. coreana (H. Léveillé) H. Léveillé; E. umbellata f. parvifolia (Wallich ex Royle) Kitamura; E. umbellata subsp. parvifolia (Wallich ex Royle) Servettaz; E. umbellata var. parvifolia (Wallich ex Royle) C. K. Schneider.

Shrubs, deciduous, erect with branchlets spreading. New branches and buds silvery scaly. Petiole 3-5(-10) mm; leaf blade obovate, 2.2-5.5(-8) × 1-1.6(-2.5) cm, papery, abaxially densely white scaly, adaxially sparsely scaly when young, lateral veins 5-8 per side of midrib, base cuneate, apex acute to obtuse. Flowers 1-3(-7)-fasciculate in axils of both long and short shoots; pedicel 3-6(-8) mm, to 1.2 cm in fruit. Flowers silvery white. Calyx tube funnel-shaped, 5-7 mm, slender; lobes triangular-ovate, 2.8-3 mm. Filaments ca. 0.7 mm; anthers elliptic, 1.8-2 mm. Style 6-7 mm, with stellate hairs; stigma ca. 2.2 mm. Drupe red, nearly globose, (6-)8-9 mm. Seed ca. 7 mm. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jul-Aug. 2n = 28*.

Thickets; (100-)500-3000 m. Gansu, Hubei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Japan, Korea, Nepal; naturalized in North America].