Shepherdia argentea

Taxobox
name = Silver Buffaloberry

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image_caption = "Shepherdia argentia", Saskatchewan
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Rosales
familia = Elaeagnaceae
genus = "Shepherdia"
species = "S. argentea"
binomial = "Shepherdia argentea"
binomial_authority = (Pursh) Nutt.

"Shepherdia argentea" (Silver Buffaloberry or Bull berry, thorny buffaloberry) is a species of "Shepherdia", native to central North America from southern Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) south in the United States to northern California and New Mexico.Germplasm Resources Information Network: [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?33863 "Shepherdia argentea"] ]

It is a deciduous shrub growing to 2-6 m 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 densely silvery below than above. The flowers are pale yellow, with four sepals and no petals. The fruit is a bright red fleshy drupe 5 mm in diameter; it is edible but with a rather bitter taste.Jepson Flora: [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?Shepherdia+argentea "Shepherdia argentea"] ]

The berry is one of the mainstays of the diet of the Sharp-tailed Grouse, the provincial bird of Saskatchewan.

References