Shepherdia argentea, 
THE SILVERY-LEAVED SHEPHERDIA. 
Synonymes. 
Hippophae argentea, 
Shcpherdia argentea, 
Scheferdia argente, 
Silber-Shepherdia, 
Shepherdia argentina, 
Graisse de buffle, 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 Britannicum. 
France. 
Germany. 
Italy. 
French Louisiana, &C. 
Creek Indians. 
Britain and Anglo- America. 
Derivations. The specific name argentea is derived from the Latin argentum, silver, having reference to the silrery scales 
on the leaves. The French, German, and Italian names have the same signification as the botanical one. It is called Graiss' 
de bceuf or Buffalo fat, by the Canadian voyageurs, either from the imaginary relish of the berries, or from the practice of m 
5ng them up with their fat, pounded meat. The Creek Indian name signifies Bloody Berry, from the singular redness and trans 
parency of the fruit. It is called Buffalo- tree, because it is browsed upon by buffaloes, in the neichbourhood 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 of Rabbit Berry, probably from being fed on by those animals. 
Engravings. Nuttall, North American Sylva, pi. xxxv. ; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, iii., fig. 1208; and the figure* 
below. 
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 obloiiu'. 2- 
celled. The female flowers are smaller, and shortly pedunculate, without stamens. Style 1, ami 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 tl 
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 summit is more rounded, 
the branches become pendulous, and the general 
aspect of the tree greatly resembles the olive. The 
flowers, 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, 
few objects are more singularly beautiful, contrasted as they arc with the sihre 
hue of the leaves, with a mixture of white and dark-green shade. These berries 
are devoured with avidity by all frugivorous birds, particularly by the American 
robin, (Turdus migratorius,) and the blue-bird, (Saxicola siahs,) which floch 
around the trees in throngs, as long as the tin it remains. 
