CANADA BUFFALOBERRY 



Lepargyrea canadensis (Linnaeus) Greene 



Canada buffaloberry is an inconspicuous shrub until the berries 

 ripen, when it decorates the mountain slopes with its red or some- 

 times yellow berries. These are bitter in flavor, though useful to 

 quench thirst, and were used by the Indians as a tonic. When the 

 berries are mashed and water is added, they make a frothy mass when 

 beaten, which some persons enjoy. Sometimes the name quassia is 

 given locally to the plant. Horses like the twigs as a change from 

 the grass and other green things that they eat on the trail. The flow- 

 ers, produced in spring on the leafless branches, are small and greenish 

 yellow. The leaves, which come later, are covered beneath with silver 

 scales that are beautiful when viewed through a lens. 



Canada buffaloberries may be found in the mountains from New 

 York to New Mexico and Oregon, and northward to Newfound- 

 land and Alaska. 



Our specimen was collected near Hector Station, British Colum- 

 bia, at an altitude of 5,000 feet. 



plate 115 



