''Shepherdia rotundifolia'', the roundleaf buffaloberry or silverleaf, is a evergreen

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 tree ...

in the oleaster family (

Elaeagnaceae The Elaeagnaceae are a plant family, the oleaster family, of the order Rosales comprising small trees and shrubs, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, south into tropical Asia and Australia. The family has about 60 species ...

) that grows only in the

Colorado Plateau The Colorado Plateau, also known as the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This province covers an area o ...

(

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

) of the southwestern United States. The common name comes from western settlers using the cooked berries in a sauce for eating cooked buffalo meat.

Leaves and stems

"Rotundifolia" is for the oval or egg-shaped leaves, which can vary to being lance shaped. They are long, silvery green on top (hence the other common name), and hairy and pale on the bottom.

Inflorescence and fruit

Flowers open from May to June and are yellowish. They are produced singly or in a cluster from leaf axils. Fruits are elliptical, with star-shaped hairs.

Habitat and range

It grows in mixed desert shrub,

pinyon juniper woodland Pinon, Piñon, Piñón, or Pinyon may refer to: * Pinyon pine (piñon pine), a group of several species of North American pine trees (genus ''Pinus'') ** the edible pine nuts of these trees ** Pinyon-juniper woodland * the edible seeds of the Sout ...

, and ponderosa pine forest communities as high as elevations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17236038 rotundifolia Flora of the Southwestern United States Endemic flora of the United States Flora without expected TNC conservation status