Shepherdia rotundifolia, the roundleaf buffaloberry[2] 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.[3]: 97 The common name comes from western settlers using the cooked berries in a sauce for eating cooked buffalo meat.[3]: 97
"Rotundifolia" is for the oval or egg-shaped leaves, which can vary to being lance shaped.[3]: 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.[3]: 97
Flowers open from May to June and are yellowish.[3]: 97 They are produced singly or in a cluster from leaf axils.[3]: 97
Fruits are elliptical, with star-shaped hairs.[3]: 97
It grows in mixed desert shrub, pinyon juniper woodland, and ponderosa pine forest communities as high as 7,800 feet (2,400 m) elevations.[3]: 97
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
