SILVERBERRY 



Elaeagnus commutata Bernhardi 



After crossing the plains and coming into the foothill country, the 

 traveler will observe many thickets of silvery-gray shrubs. In June, 

 on approaching these clumps he is greeted by the peculiar sweet 

 scent of the greenish funnel-shaped bells, with yellow petals, that 

 hang from the under sides of the branches. The leaves, when exam- 

 ined under a lens, are seen to be covered with silvery scales. Similar 

 scales covering the fruit have given the plant the name silverberry. 

 It is nearly related to the buffaloberry, and often grows with it. Both 

 are members of the group of plants known as the Oleaster Family, 

 which is considered by botanists to belong in the same order as the 

 loosestrifes and evening primroses. 



Silverberry is found from Quebec to Minnesota and from Utah 

 to the Yukon. 



The specimen sketched was collected near Ghost River, twenty- 

 five miles northeast of Banff, Alberta, at an altitude of 4,000 feet. 



PLATE 70 



