{{Short description|Family of shrubs}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = SilverBuffaloberrySK-3.jpg | image_caption = ''Shepherdia argentea'' | taxon = Shepherdia | authority = Nutt. | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = See text | range_map = | range_map_caption = | synonyms = * ''Lepargyrea'' <small>Raf.</small> * ''Leptargyreia'' <small>Schltdl.</small> }}
'''''Shepherdia''''', commonly called '''buffaloberry'''<ref>{{PLANTS|id=SHEPH|taxon=Shepherdia|accessdate=11 November 2015}}</ref> or '''bullberry''', is a genus of small shrubs in the Elaeagnaceae family. The plants are native to northern and western North America.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=SHEPH|work=USDA PLANTS|title=Shepherdia Nutt.}}</ref> They are non-legume nitrogen fixers.
''Shepherdia'' is dioecious, with male and female flowers produced on separate plants.<ref name=Renner>{{cite journal|last=Renner|first=Susanne S.|date=2014|title=The relative and absolute frequencies of angiosperm sexual systems: dioecy, monoecy, gynodioecy, and an updated online database|journal=American Journal of Botany|volume=101|issue=10|pages=1588–1596|doi=10.3732/ajb.1400196|pmid=25326608|doi-access=free}}</ref>
==Species== The genus has three living species:
*''Shepherdia argentea'' - silver buffaloberry<ref>{{cite web|title=Silver buffaloberry|author=|url=https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/trees/handbook/th-3-5.pdf}}</ref> *''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: *†''Shepherdia weaveri'' {{small|(Hollick) LaMotte}} - Paleocene/Eocene Kachemak Bay, Alaska<ref name="LaMotte52">{{cite book |last1=LaMotte |first1=R.S. |year=1952 |title=Catalogue of the Cenozoic plants of North America through 1950 |series=Geological Society of America Memoirs |publisher=Geological Society of America |volume=51 |doi=10.1130/MEM51}}</ref>
==Fruit== 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=== The plants have rather bitter-tasting berries. The fruit are often eaten by bears to maintain fat stores during hibernation.<ref name=tse>{{cite book |last= Elias, Professor |first=Thomas S. |others=Peter A. Dykeman |title=Edible Wild Plants A North American Field Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6a8MAgAACAAJ&q=edible+wild+plants+a+north+american+field+guide |format=Digitized online by Google books |accessdate=2009-01-25 |year= 1983 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=0-442-22254-8 |pages=9–28, 258 }} </ref>
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=== Buffaloberries are sour and can be made into jam, pie, jelly, syrup, soups, or prepared like cranberry sauce with sugar added.<ref name=tse/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Shepherdia|position=left}}
{{taxonbar |from=Q247641}} {{-}}
Category:Shepherdia Category:Rosales genera Category:Dioecious plants Category:Flora of Northern America Category:Taxa described in 1818 Category:Taxa named by Thomas Nuttall