Shepherdia
| Shepherdia | |
|---|---|
| |
| Shepherdia argentea | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Rosales |
| Family: | Elaeagnaceae |
| Genus: | Shepherdia Nutt. |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Shepherdia, commonly called buffaloberry[1] or bullberry, is a genus of small shrubs in the Elaeagnaceae family. The plants are native to northern and western North America.[2] They are non-legume nitrogen fixers.
Shepherdia is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate plants.[3]
Species[edit]
The genus has three living species:
- Shepherdia argentea - silver buffaloberry[4]
- Shepherdia canadensis - Canada buffaloberry
- Shepherdia rotundifolia - roundleaf buffaloberry, endemic to southern Utah and northern Arizona
An additional extinct species is also placed in the genus:
Fruit[edit]
The berry is recognizable by being a dark shade of red, with little white dots on them. They are rough to the touch, and are found on both trees and shrubs.
Wildlife[edit]
The plants have rather bitter-tasting berries. The fruit are often eaten by bears, which by legend, prefer the berries to maintain fat stores during hibernation.[6]
Buffaloberries are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, including Ectropis crepuscularia (recorded from S. canadensis) and Coleophora elaeagnisella.
As food[edit]
Buffaloberries are sour and can be made into jam, pie, jelly, syrup, soups, or prepared like cranberry sauce with sugar added.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Shepherdia". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
- ^ "Shepherdia Nutt". USDA PLANTS.
- ^ Renner, Susanne S. (2014). "The relative and absolute frequencies of angiosperm sexual systems: dioecy, monoecy, gynodioecy, and an updated online database". American Journal of Botany. 101 (10): 1588–1596. doi:10.3732/ajb.1400196. PMID 25326608.
- ^ "Silver buffaloberry" (PDF).
- ^ LaMotte, R.S. (1952). Catalogue of the Cenozoic plants of North America through 1950. Geological Society of America Memoirs. Vol. 51. Geological Society of America. doi:10.1130/MEM51.
- ^ a b Elias, Professor, Thomas S. (1983). Edible Wild Plants A North American Field Guide (Digitized online by Google books). Peter A. Dykeman. Cengage Learning. pp. 9–28, 258. ISBN 0-442-22254-8. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
External links[edit]
Media related to Shepherdia at Wikimedia Commons
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