''Shepherdia argentea'', commonly called silver buffaloberry, bull berry, or thorny buffaloberry, is a species of '' Shepherdia'' in the Oleaster family. It is native to central and western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, from the Prairie Provinces of Canada ( Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) southwards in the United States as far as Ventura County in California, as well as northern Arizona, and northwestern New Mexico.

Description

''Shepherdia argentea'' is a deciduous

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

growing from tall. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs (rarely alternately arranged), 2–6 cm long, oval with a rounded apex, green with a covering of fine silvery, silky hairs, more thickly silvery below than above. The flowers are pale yellow, with four sepals but no petals. The fruit is a bright red fleshy

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

5 mm in diameter; it is edible but with a rather bitter taste.Jepson Flora
''Shepherdia argentea''
/ref> Two cultivars, 'Xanthocarpa' and 'Goldeneye', form yellow fruit. The Latin specific epithet ''argentea'' refers to the silver color of the plant's leaves and stems.

Distribution and habitat

''Shepherdia argentea'' is native to the western and central parts of Canada and North America. It grows in many different kinds of habitats such as riparian areas, woodlands, exposed slopes on prairies, and in dry, sandy soils of plains and canyons.

Ecology

The berry is one of the mainstays of the diet of the sharp-tailed grouse, the provincial bird of Saskatchewan. The foliage provides important forage for mule deer and white-tailed deer. The shrub's thorny branches and thicket forming habit provide a shelter for many small animal species and an ideal nesting site for songbirds. Over the extent of its range, the buffaloberry is an important species in a variety of ecological communities. For example, in the shrub-grassland communities of North Dakota it is found growing with many native grasses, while in riparian woodlands of Montana and Western North Dakota it can be found in plant communities dominated by green ash.

Uses

Like the

Canada buffaloberry ''Shepherdia canadensis'', commonly called Canada buffaloberry, russet buffaloberry, soopolallie, soapberry, or foamberry (Ktunaxa: ',) is one of a small number of shrubs of the genus ''Shepherdia'' that bears edible berries. Description The pla ...

, ''Sheperdia argentea'' has been used historically as a food, medicine, and dye. Its various uses including the treatment of stomach troubles and in coming-of-age ceremonies for girls. In the

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

, the berries were eaten raw and dried for winter use, but more often cooked into a flavoring sauce for

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...

meat. The buffaloberry has been a staple food to some American Indians, who ate the berries in puddings, jellies, and in raw or dried form. The Gosiute Shoshone name for the plant is ''añ-ka-mo-do-nûp''.

References

External links

*
Jepson Manual Treatment for ''Shepherdia argentea''University of Michigan—Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany of Silver buffaloberry

* ttp://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Shepherdia+argentea ''Shepherdia argentea'' — Calphotos Photo gallery, University of California {{Taxonbar, from=Q2658110 argentea Berries Plants described in 1813 Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Medicinal plants of North America Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the South-Central United States Flora of Western Canada Flora without expected TNC conservation status