SILVERBERRY 



Elaeagnus commutata Bernhardi 



FRUIT OF PLATE JO 



We had known the silverberry for years and had enjoyed its sweet 

 fragrance, but had never seen fruit on the bushes until one occasion 

 when we were traveling down the Kootenai River Valley, in the be- 

 ginning of September. Here all the plants were growing in great per- 

 fection, and in riding across a flat, through which a mountain stream 

 meandered, we came across some superb silverberry bushes, which 

 were higher than our horses' heads and loaded with fruit. They were 

 so beautiful that we carried a great bunch of them back to camp, tied 

 to the pommel of the saddle. Since then we have learned that the 

 berries are, in a sense, edible, though too dry and mealy to appeal to the 

 taste of most people, and so the prairie chickens and other birds are 

 allowed to enjoy them in peace, throughout their broad range from 

 Quebec to Minnesota and Utah, and north to the Yukon. 



The specimen sketched was obtained in the Kootenai River Valley, 

 British Columbia, at an altitude of 3,000 feet. 



PLATE 71 



