''Shepherdia canadensis'', commonly called Canada buffaloberry, russet buffaloberry, soopolallie, soapberry, or foamberry (

Ktunaxa The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...

: ',) is one of a small number of shrubs of the genus ''

Shepherdia ''Shepherdia'', commonly called buffaloberry or bullberry, is a genus of small shrubs in the Elaeagnaceae family. The plants are native to northern and western North America. They are non-legume nitrogen fixers. ''Shepherdia'' is dioecious, with ...

'' that bears edible

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

Description

The plant is a

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

shrub of open woodlands and thickets, growing to a maximum of . The fruit is usually red, but one variety has yellow

. The berries have a

bitter Bitter may refer to: Common uses * Resentment, negative emotion or attitude, similar to being jaded, cynical or otherwise negatively affected by experience * Bitter (taste), one of the five basic tastes Books * '' Bitter (novel)'', a 2022 nove ...

taste. It is a

non-legume nitrogen fixer Actinorhizal plants are a group of angiosperms characterized by their ability to form a symbiosis with the nitrogen fixing actinomycetota ''Frankia''. This association leads to the formation of nitrogen-fixing root nodules. Classification Actinorh ...

Etymology

The common name of the plant in British Columbia is "soopolallie", a word derived from the historic Chinook Jargon trading language spoken in the North American Pacific Northwest in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The name is a composite of the Chinook words "soop" (soap) and "olallie" (berry).Turner, Nancy J., Laurence C. Thompson, M. Terry Thompson, and Annie Z. York. 1990. Thompson Ethnobotany. Royal British Columbia Museum: Victoria. Pp. 209-11.

Distribution and habitat

The species is widespread in all of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, except in

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

, and in the western and northern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, including

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

and

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Uses

Some Canadian

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

peoples such as

Nlaka'pamux The Nlaka'pamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', ''Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''Kni ...

(Thompson), St'at'imc (Lillooet), and Secwepemc (Shuswap) in the Province of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

extensively collect the berries. The bitter berries are not directly consumed but rather processed as "''sxusem''", also spelled "''sxushem''" and "''xoosum''" or "''hooshum''" (" Indian ice cream"). Collection involves placing a mat or

tarpaulin A tarpaulin ( , ) or tarp is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with polyurethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. Tarpaulins often have reinforced ...

below the bushes, hitting the branches, collecting the very ripe fruits, mixing with other sweet fruit such as

raspberries The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...

, crushing the mixture, and then beating of the mixture to raise the foam characteristic of the dish. The berry is both sweet and bitter, and is possibly comparable to the taste of sweetened

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

. The First Nations peoples who prepare a dish with it believe that the berry has many health properties, but the

saponin Saponins (Latin "sapon", soap + "-in", one of), also selectively referred to as triterpene glycosides, are bitter-tasting usually toxic plant-derived organic chemicals that have a foamy quality when agitated in water. They are widely distributed ...

chemicals it contains (which create a foam when whipped into a dessert dish) may cause

gastrointestinal The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...

irritation if large quantities are consumed. Native-themed restaurants in British Columbia have occasionally offered the berries on their menus. Unrelated plants in the genus '' Sapindus'' produce toxic saponins and are also commonly denominated "soapberry".

References

External links

United States Department of Agriculture Plants profile for ''Shepherdia canadensis'' (russet buffaloberry)Province of British Columbia Ministry of Forests: ''Shepherdia canadensis'' (soopolallie)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q247980 Indigenous cuisine in Canada Berries canadensis Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the South-Central United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of Subarctic America Flora of Western Canada Plants described in 1753 Flora of the Northwestern United States Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Taxa named by Thomas Nuttall