BAYFIELD, WHERE THE BUFFALO BERRIES ROAM

BUFFALO BERRY...

...BERRIES

MOUNT ASHWABAY

SMITH FIRE LANE

Monday, 9:00 AM.  Wind SW, calm to very light.  The sky has a light, high overcast and the humidity is 80%, which together might presage some rain, but the barometer is still very high, at 30.42".  The Farmers'Almanac predicts humid, showery weather the 16th through the 19th and internet weather predicts rain for tomorrow so the barometer should begin to fall soon.  My recently panted trees need water so I am hoping the predictions are correct.
   I have walked by the buffalo berry bush on the corner of 11th St. and Old Military Road hundreds of times and it never caught my eye.  Today it did, and having seen it for what seemed like the first time I knew immediately that it was Shepherdia argentea, in the small family Eleagnaceae. It is a medium to large sized shrub native to the Great Plains of the northern US and Canada. it's range enters western Minnesota, about 300 miles to the west of us.  It has attractive silvery leaves which turn yellow in late fall, and in spring small yellow flowers which produce copious amounts of red berry-like fruits that have a silvery sheen.  The tart, acidic berries are edible by by birds, other animals and humans.  They should make a rather tasty and unusual preserve, and were eaten fresh and also dried by Native Americans.
   I have seldom seen buffalo berry used in the landscape, but its close relative the non-native Russian olive, Eleagnus angustifolius, formerly was used for its gray-green foliage but has fallen out of favor as it is now considered invasive.  Buffalo berry could be a pretty good background plant or might be useful for its fruit.  It is tough and drought resistant.  It is somewhat thorny, but not dangerously so.  There is another  Shepherdia species, S. canadensis, native much further north, which I have not seen.
   The color is fast reaching its peak, and the countryside and back roads are ablaze with color.