BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Shepherdia canadensis | Russet Buffaloberry 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Russet buffaloberry is a native, deciduous, nitrogen-fixing shrub
ranging in height from 3 to 13 feet (0.9-3.9 m) [5].  Plants are
generally dioecious but occasionally monoecious [52].  Fruits are
drupelike, ovoid achenes enveloped in a fleshy perianth which turns
yellowish red to bright red when ripe [6,50,54].  Roots have been
variously reported as rhizomatous with relatively deep underground
parts, fibrous and shallow [37], and a taproot with no rhizomes [34].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Sexual:  Seed production begins at 4 to 6 years of age, with good seed
crops generally produced every year after that.  The small, hard seed
shows poor, highly erratic, or delayed germintation.  Cold
stratification for a minimum of 60 days appears to be a requirement for
embryo development [34,53].  Sulfuric acid scarification for 20 to 30
minutes resulted in 72 to 80 percent germination [53].  Seeds are
disseminated by animals and gravity.

Vegetative:  Sprouts arise from both surviving root crowns and dormant
buds on the taproot [38].  However, russet buffaloberry is not very
aggressive in terms of regeneration.  It had the lowest aggressive
ability of 20 shrubs and trees in Canada [17].
 


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Russet buffaloberry is generally found on sandy, gravelly, or rocky
soils, and is able to thrive on nutrient-poor soils due to its
nitrogen-fixing ability [5,57].  Nodulation is variable and appears to
be most abundant in nutrient-poor, sandy soils [37,57].  Russet
buffaloberry grows on shores, riverbanks, dry slopes, moist north
slopes, open rocky woods, and occasionally in calcareous marshes [50].
It forms dense thickets along riparian zones and valley bottoms [37].

In Alaska it is uncommon or locally common in openings and forests of
dry uplands and in aspen forests on old burns [57].  It has been
reported dominating dry, rocky sites in the Mission and Rattlesnake
mountains of Montana [37].  It also dominates the most xerophytic
communities in Banff and Jasper National Parks, Alberta [29], the driest
sites for tree growth in interior Alaska [57], and the drier situations
in the Black Hills of South Dakota [21].  Other sources have described
it as mesophilic and occurring on moist north slopes [3,37].

Elevations have been reported from 4,950 to 5,250 feet (1,500-1,600 m)
in Alberta [46] and 6,600 to 8,200 feet (2,012-2,499 m) in Idaho [43].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Russet buffaloberry occurs as a dominant with willow (Salix spp.) in the
second stage of succession on glacial moraines between Alaska and the
Yukon Territory [4].  As succession moves from immature forest to
old-growth forest there is a significant decrease in percent cover of
russet buffaloberry [2].  It is also a dominant species in the climax
vegetation of ponderosa pine forests and hardwood climax forests on
alluvial floodplains along major rivers in Montana [45].  Following
fire, russet buffaloberry is found in the first stage of succession (the
seedling/herb stage) which lasts from 1 to 15 years [19], and remains
after the canopy closes [3].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Across its range, russet buffaloberry flowers from April to June, and
the fruits ripen from June to August [37].  In Saskatchewan, anthesis
begins in mid to late April, 3 to 7 days earlier in pistillate plants
than in staminate plants.  Bloom occurs in late April to early May in
Ontario [51] and in Alaska plants bloom in early May following snowmelt
[57].  Fruits mature during July in all three areas.  Shoot elongation was
visible in Saskatchewan from the last week of April, 3 to 5 days after
anthesis, until the end of June.  The majority of growth occurs from
early May until mid-June [20].

The averages of significant phenological dates were reported east and
west of the Continental Divide [48].

           Leaf     Leaves                             
           Buds     Full                    Fruits     Seed        Leaf
           Burst    Grown     Flowering      Ripe      Fall        Drop

East       5/17     6/25      5/14-5/29      7/28    8/05-9/11   9/10-10/01
West       5/19     6/14      5/15-6/03      7/09        -       9/11-10/04

Related categories for Species: Shepherdia canadensis | Russet Buffaloberry