Shepherdia canadensis, July 15, 2021
Common & scientific name
Canada buffaloberry or Soapberry, Shepherdia canadensis
Family
Oleaster, Elaeagnaceae
Location
Difficult Creek, 8,300’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
I’m showing this plant in fruit, as opposed to in bloom, because I missed bloom time, which is easy to do: the flowers are tiny, greenish, and somewhat hidden in the plant’s leaf axils. By contrast, their July/August red berries (those pictured here are a bit orange, as they’re early in development) are so bright as to be impossible to miss, and are favorites of grouse and black bears. They are also edible for humans: I tried one and found it pleasantly sweet, although every book says that that sweetness devolves into an unpleasant soapy flavor (hence its other common name, “soapberry”). Try for yourself, then cleanse the palate with a neighboring thimbleberry, if necessary!