Shephcrdia argentca^ 



THE SILVERY-LEAVED SHEPHERDIA. 



Synonymes. 



Hippophae argentea, 



Shcpherdia argentea, 



Scheferclia argente, 



Silber-Shepherdia, 



Shepherdia argentina, 



Graisse de butUe, Graisse de bceuf, 



Metheoo-meeva, 



Western Shepherdia, Missouri Silver-leaf, 

 Buffalo-tree, Buffalo-bush, Buffalo Ber- 

 ry-tree, Rabbit Berry, Beef Suet-tree, 



PuRSH, Flora America; Septentrionalis. 



NuTTALL, North American Sylva. 



Loudon, Arboretum Bntanmcum. 



France. 



Germany. 



Italy. 



French Louisiana, &c. 



Creek Lndians. 



Britain and Anglo- America. 



Derivations. The specific name argentea is derived from ihe Lalin argentum, silver, having reference to the silvery scale* 

 on the leaves. The French, German, and Italian names have the same signification as the botanical one. It is called Graisse 

 de b(tuf or BuflTalo fat, by the Canadian voyageurs, either from the imaginary relish of the berries, or from the practice of serr- 

 ing them up with their fat, pounded meat. The Creeic Indian name signifies Bloody Berry, from the singular redness and trans- 

 parency of the fruit. It is called Buffalo-tree, because it is brov/sed upon by buffaloes, in the neighbourhood of the Rocky 

 Mountains, where it grows in large clumps or clusters. According to Lewis and Clarke, it was known on the Missouri, to the 

 natives, by the name oi Rabbit Berry, probably from being fed on by those animals. 



Engravings. 

 l)elow. 



Nuliall, North American Sylva, pi. xxxv. ; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, iii., fig. 1203; and the figures 



Specific Characters. Leaves oblong-ovate, obtuse ; both surfaces glabrous, and covered with silvery pel- 

 tate scales. Flowers in clusters. The calyx of the male flowers considerably larger than that of the 

 female, and divided down to the base into 4 sub-ovate, obtuse divisions, internally yellowish, but scaly 

 outside, like the leaves. Stamens 8, often with rather short, pubescent filaments. Anthers oblong, 2- 

 celled. The female flowers are smaller, and shortly pedunculate, without stamens. Style 1, and a 

 thickish, oblique, sub-elliptic stigma. The germ appears inferior, but is, in fact, only invested by the 

 tube of the calyx. Berries bright and pellucid, occurring in clusters, and sparingly scattered with 

 scales. Seed, or nut, with a cartilaginous shell, sub-ovate, and shining, and scored externally as if 

 partly 2-lobed, with a small projection at the base. Embryo straight and flat, without albumen, and 

 the radicle inferior. Cotyledon large, thick, and oval. Adapted, from Nuttall. 



Description. 



'\ HE Shepherdia argentea, in 

 - its natural habitat, is a small, 



rather narrow-topped shrub, 



from ten to fifteen feet in 

 height, with the branches ending in stout spines; but 

 in a state of cultivation, the sunnnit is more rounded, 

 the branches become pendulous, and the general 

 aspect of the tree greatly resembles tiie olive. Tiie 

 tlowers, which come out as early as March, are suc- 

 ceeded by brilliant scarlet berries, about the size of 

 the Antwerp red currant, and, at the close of summer, 

 when the branches are almost concealed in clusters, 

 iew objects are more singularly beautiful, contrasted as they are with the silvery 

 hue of the leaves, with a mi.Kture of white and dark-grocu .shade. Those berries 

 are devoured with avidity by all frugivorous birds, particularly by the American 

 robin, (Turdus migratorius,) and the blue-bird, (Saxicola sialis,) which Hock 

 around the trees in throngs, as long as the fruit remains. 



