Shepherdia rotundifolia
# Shepherdia rotundifolia

Shepherdia rotundifolia, the roundleaf buffaloberry or silverleaf, is a 3-to-6-foot (1-to-2-meter) evergreen shrub in the oleaster family (Elaeagnaceae) that grows only in the Colorado Plateau (endemic) of the southwestern United $States.^{:97}$ The common name comes from western settlers using the cooked berries in a sauce for eating cooked buffalo $meat.^{:97}$

## Leaves and stems

"Rotundifolia" is for the oval or egg-shaped leaves, which can vary to being lance $shaped.^{:97}$ They are 1⁄4 to 1+1⁄2 inches (6 to 38 mm) long, silvery green on top (hence the other common name), and hairy and pale on the $bottom.^{:97}$

## Inflorescence and fruit

Flowers open from May to June and are $yellowish.^{:97}$ They are produced singly or in a cluster from leaf $axils.^{:97}$

Fruits are elliptical, with star-shaped $hairs.^{:97}$

## Habitat and range

It grows in mixed desert shrub, pinyon juniper woodland, and ponderosa pine forest communities as high as 7,800 feet (2,400 m) $elevations.^{:97}$

