Autumn olive is a good nitrogen fixer for a fruit tree guild.
Well established · fatal if ignored → block
This is one the planner refuses to enforce. The claim is recorded here with what is actually known, rather than dropped — a rule that was checked and failed is worth more to you than one that was never checked.
What is actually known
It fixes nitrogen. It is also bird-dispersed, forms dense thickets, and is listed as invasive or noxious across much of the eastern and midwestern US.
What to do about it
Autumn olive will escape your yard. Use white clover, wild lupine, or a native fixer, and check your state noxious weed list before planting any woody nitrogen fixer.
The evidence
Evidence: confirmed against 2 sources in the research-based literature.
the 2 sources
NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, 'Elaeagnus umbellata', plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/elaeagnus-umbellata (read 2026-07-11): 'This plant is an invasive species in North Carolina'; 'It becomes quite competitive even in poor soils by fixing nitrogen in its roots'; 'The fruits are taken by birds and small mammals, which disperse the seeds ... a large plant may produce hundreds or thousands of fruits. Autumn olive threatens native species by out-competing them'; 'Many states have banned its sale.'
USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System (Munger 2003), 'Elaeagnus umbellata', fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/elaumb/all.html (read 2026-07-11): symbiosis with soil actinomycetes 'permits the fixation and subsequent utilization of atmospheric nitrogen'; 'Seeds are dispersed by frugivorous birds'; listed 'as a noxious weed in several West Virginia counties'; USFS Region 8 lists it a 'category 1 weed' whose introduction 'is prohibited on National Forest System Lands.'