Index / Search / Shepherdia argentea
§1 Plant
Shepherdia argentea (Pursh) Nutt.
vernacular silver buffaloberry — species · Elaeagnaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Elaeagnaceae Juss.
- Genus
- Shepherdia
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b
County-level range
· 217 counties across 17 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- Medium
- Shade
- Medium
- Moisture use
- Medium
- Fire
- Medium
- Salinity
- High
- Anaerobic
- None
- CaCO₃
- High
- Hedging
- Medium
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -38 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 110 min.
- Precipitation
- 15–20 in/yr
- pH range
- 5.3–8
- Root depth
- 24 in min.
- Fertility need
- Low
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Mature height
- 18 ft
- Height @ 20 y
- 18 ft
- Foliage texture
- Coarse
- Foliage colour
- White-Gray
- Porosity (summer)
- Dense
- Porosity (winter)
- Moderate
- Flower colour
- Yellow
- Fruit colour
- Red
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- Medium
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Seed abundance
- High
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Fall
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- Yes
- Seeds / lb
- 31,215
- Propagation
- seed, bare root, container
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Routinely Available
- Nursery stock
- Yes
- Browse palatability
- Medium
- Graze palatability
- Low
- Palatable, human
- Yes
- Protein potential
- Low
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 217 counties across 17 states/territories.
Arizona view state ↗ 1 N ▾
California view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 15 N ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 2 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 10 N ▾
Montana view state ↗ 38 N ▾
- Beaverhead 30001
- Big Horn 30003
- Blaine 30005
- Carbon 30009
- Carter 30011
- Cascade 30013
- Chouteau 30015
- Custer 30017
- Daniels 30019
- Dawson 30021
- Fallon 30025
- Fergus 30027
- Flathead 30029
- Gallatin 30031
- Golden Valley 30037
- Lake 30047
- Lewis and Clark 30049
- Lincoln 30053
- Madison 30057
- McCone 30055
- Mineral 30061
- Missoula 30063
- Park 30067
- Phillips 30071
- Powder River 30075
- Prairie 30079
- Richland 30083
- Roosevelt 30085
- Rosebud 30087
- Sanders 30089
- Sheridan 30091
- Stillwater 30095
- Sweet Grass 30097
- Teton 30099
- Treasure 30103
- Valley 30105
- Wibaux 30109
- Yellowstone 30111
Nebraska view state ↗ 27 N ▾
- Antelope 31003
- Boyd 31015
- Buffalo 31019
- Burt 31021
- Cass 31025
- Cheyenne 31033
- Clay 31035
- Dakota 31043
- Dawes 31045
- Dixon 31051
- Dodge 31053
- Dundy 31057
- Franklin 31061
- Garden 31069
- Gosper 31073
- Greeley 31077
- Hall 31079
- Hamilton 31081
- Hayes 31085
- Lincoln 31111
- Loup 31115
- Merrick 31121
- Morrill 31123
- Sarpy 31153
- Scotts Bluff 31157
- Sheridan 31161
- Sioux 31165
Nevada view state ↗ 12 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 4 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 1 N ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 31 N ▾
- Barnes 38003
- Benson 38005
- Billings 38007
- Bottineau 38009
- Bowman 38011
- Burke 38013
- Burleigh 38015
- Cavalier 38019
- Divide 38023
- Dunn 38025
- Emmons 38029
- Golden Valley 38033
- Grant 38037
- Logan 38047
- McKenzie 38053
- McLean 38055
- Mercer 38057
- Morton 38059
- Mountrail 38061
- Oliver 38065
- Pembina 38067
- Pierce 38069
- Ramsey 38071
- Ransom 38073
- Richland 38077
- Sioux 38085
- Slope 38087
- Stark 38089
- Stutsman 38093
- Ward 38101
- Williams 38105
Oregon view state ↗ 2 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 19 N ▾
Utah view state ↗ 19 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 4 N ▾
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/SHAR ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/5372429 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z