Exit78 Photo of the Day #111
Roundleaf buffaloberry bush, 6.5 miles north and east of Head of Rocks Overlook on Utah Highway 12 in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah, October 6, 2015 (Pentax K-3 II)
Shepherdia rotundifolia (Wikipedia)
Shepherdia rotundifolia, the roundleaf buffaloberry[1] 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.The common name comes from western settlers using the cooked berries in a sauce for eating cooked buffalo meat.
“Rotundifolia” is for the oval or egg-shaped leaves, which can vary to being lance shaped. 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.
Flowers open from May to June and are yellowish. They are produced singly or in a cluster from leaf axils.
Fruits are elliptical, with star-shaped hairs.
Series notes:
- The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
- Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
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I have always wondered about how the pioneers who were totally new the continent worked out whether a plant or fruit was edible and not poisonous.
Rummuser recently posted…Chappal!
Often, the primary method would have been trade or other interactions with native Americans, some of which goes back to the very earliest colonies. Corn (maize), squash, tomatoes, potatoes, bell and chili peppers, peanut, cashews, and pineapple all came from the Americas.
Mike recently posted…President Clinton Avenue