OLEASTER FAMILY 



troduced species under observation in nurseries and 

 experiment stations which will no doubt in time give 

 an excellent account of themselves. 



BUFFALO-BERRY. RABBIT-BERRY 



Lepargyrcea argintea. Sliephh-dia argintea. 



Lepargyrcea, of Greek derivation, silvery-scaly. Sliepher- 

 dia in honor of John Shepherd, once curator of the Liver- 

 pool Botanic Garden. 



Slender, growing from six to fifteen feet high, peculiar for the 

 silvery pubescence which covers stem and leaves. Branches are 

 covered with gray bark, twigs silvery white, often terminating 

 in thorns. Ranges from Minnesota to Kansas and Nevada, 

 northward to Manitoba. 



Leaves. — Opposite, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, one to two 

 and a half inches long, about half an inch wide, somewhat pointed 

 at base, margin entire, obtuse at apex, silvery-stellate-pubescent 

 above and below. Petioles about five-eighths of an inch long. 



Flowers. — April, May. Small, yellow, dioecious, fascicled at 

 the axils of the leaves of the preceding season. Staminate flow- 

 ers with a four-parted perianth and eight stamens; filaments 

 short. Pistillate flowers with a four-lobed perianth, bearing an 

 eight-lobed disk at its mouth which nearly closes it; style some- 

 what exserted. 



Fruit. — Drupe-like, oval or ovoid, scarlet, sour, about one- 

 fourth of an inch long, edible. 



The Buffalo-berry is an interesting; plant, whose 

 native home is the far west, but which takes very 

 kindly to eastern cultivation, A marked characteristic 

 is the peculiar metallic lustre of its leaves, which is 

 produced by a starry white pubescence that so covers 

 their surfaces as to make them look as if sheathed with 

 silver. This pubescence is sometimes brown, but usu- 

 ally wdiite, and is not confined to the leaves alone, but 



430 



