Shepherdia argentea (Silver Buffaloberry) - photos and description
Shrubs in flower without leaves, April 24th.
Shrubs in flower without leaves, April 24th.
Shrubs in flower without leaves, April 24th.
Shrub beginning to leaf out, May 14th.
Male flowers in above photo
Male flowers in above photo
Female flower in above photo.
Female flowers in above photo
General: Thorny shrub or small tree with whitish branches, and having thorns at tips of stems.
Flowers: Flowers unisexual, only flowers of one sex found per plant. We observed in clumps of several shrubs, all the plants in the clump were of the same sex. Flowers pale yellow, we measured male flowers to 5 mm long, and female flowers to 4 mm long.
Leaves: Leaves opposite, oblanceolate, in clusters of 4 to 6 along stem and at stem tips. Leaf highlighted in photo above was 14 mm long by 7 mm wide, leaves silvery-green top and bottom.
Height: Height is listed in Budd's Flora to 5 m, we measured plants to 2.3 m tall.
Habitat: Sloughs and ravines on light soil, prairies.
Abundance: Common.
Origin: Native.
When and where photographed: Photos taken April 24th, sandy roadside, Douglas Provincial Park, about 200 km northwest of Regina, SK, and May 14th, edge of thicket on a prairie hillside, Buffalo Pound Provincial Park, about 60 km west of our home in Regina, SK.