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  • Shepherdia canadensis

Shepherdia canadensis

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Common name: Soapberry


Shepherdia canadensis is a deciduous medium-sized shrub. It is native to Canada and western and northern United States. You can walk right by Soapberry and not even notice it - unless you’ve eaten Indian ice cream. Soapberry produces clusters of sour-tasting red or orange berries in summer. These berries contain trace levels of natural detergents known as saponins. When squeezed, the berries produce a sudsy foam. If they are added to water and sweetened, they can be whipped like egg whites to make a frothy, rose-coloured confection. Today in some First Nations, families serve this dish at celebrations. Many call it ‘Indian ice cream’. 


According to ethnobotanist Nancy Turner, linguistic studies show that this dish has been around for a long time - 5,000 to 7,000 years. Archeological reports suggest that Indian ice cream dates back even earlier. Soapberry is one of the first plants to follow lichens and mosses in colonizing the moraines left behind by melting glaciers. Studies show that it took root along the northwest coast soon after the great ice sheets melted. This links Soapberry to one of humanity’s great adventures, the southward migration of Paleoamericans along the Pacific coast. Brightly colored red berries may have welcomed them as they explored their new world. 


This wide-ranging shrub feeds a lot of wildlife. Thanks to the hover flies pollinating the flowers, there are always lots of berries.  These berries, rich in vitamin C and iron, are eaten by grizzly bears, black bears and grouse. Grizzlies eat thousands of soapberries in August and September and manage to leave each shrub intact. They have amazingly agile tongues. And buffalo, bighorn sheep, elk, deer, and snowshoe hare browse on its leaves. 


Text by Hughie Jones


Berry picture was taken by Lazarus000, via Wikimedia Commons.

The rest of the pictures were taken in September in the Garden by Hughie Jones.

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  • Home
  • Updates
    • What's New
    • Curator Updates
    • Garden Stories >
      • Garden Story Index
    • Self-Guided Tours
    • Walks & Talks >
      • Walks and Talks 2023
      • Walks and Talks 2022
      • Walks -Talks 2021 & Zoom Tips
    • PDFs of Updates, Tours, & Talks >
      • Self-guided Tours (PDF)
      • Gardener Walks (PDF)
  • Plant IDs
    • ID By Flower Color >
      • Red Flowers
      • Pink Flowers
      • Orange Flowers
      • Yellow Flowers
      • Green Flowers
      • Blue Flowers
      • Purple Flowers
      • White Flowers
    • ID By Type >
      • Annuals
      • Berries-Fruits-Nuts
      • Bulbs, Corms, Rhizomes, Tubers >
        • Bulbs
        • Corms
        • Rhizomes
        • Tubers
      • Ferns
      • Grasses
      • Medicinal Plants
      • Native Plants
      • Perennials >
        • Peonies
        • Salvias
      • Rhododendrons >
        • Rhodendron Erica Notes
      • Shrubs >
        • Calycanthus
        • Hydrangeas >
          • Hydrangea Background
        • Peonies >
          • Peonies-Overview
        • Rhododendrons
        • Roses >
          • Rose Background
      • Trees >
        • Conifers >
          • Cypress
          • Firs
          • Pines
        • Deciduous Trees >
          • Dogwoods
          • Ginkgos
          • Magnolias
          • Witch Hazels
        • Native Trees
        • Tree of the Month
  • In the Garden
    • Map and Collection Lists
    • Art in the Garden >
      • Symposium & Exhibitions
    • Building and Grounds >
      • Bridges
      • Formal Rose Garden Hardscape and Art
      • Grotto Area & Black Garden
      • Korean Pavilion
      • Maze
    • Gardener Assignments
    • Collections >
      • Ash Collection
      • Camellia Collection
      • Rhododendron Walk
    • Gardens >
      • Gardens A-D >
        • Alma VanDusen Garden
        • Backyard Bird Garden
        • Bentall Garden
        • Black Garden
        • Canadian Heritage Garden >
          • Bees
          • Canadian Heritage Orchard
        • Cascadia Garden
        • Cherry Grove
        • Chilean Garden
      • Gardens E-H >
        • Eastern North America Garden
        • Fern Dell
        • Formal Rose Garden
        • Fragrance Garden
        • Heather Garden
        • Herb Garden
        • Heritage Rose Garden
      • Gardens I-P >
        • Laburnum Walk
        • Livingstone Lake
        • Meconopsis Dell
        • Meditation Garden
        • Mediterranean Garden
        • Ornamental Grasses
        • Perennial Garden
      • Gardens R-Z >
        • Rhododendron Walk
        • Sino-Himayalan Region
        • South African Garden
        • Southern Hemisphere
        • Stone Garden
        • Vegetable Garden
        • Woodland Garden
    • Garden History >
      • History photos
  • Science
    • Animals & Insects >
      • Birds
      • Butterflies and Moths
      • Insect Friends
      • Small Creatures
    • Buds
    • Colour and Vision
    • Dynamic Symmetry - Fibonacci Spirals
    • Flowers
    • Fruit
    • Germination
    • Habitats and Environments
    • Hormones
    • Leaves
    • Life on Earth
    • Light, Energy, and Rainbows
    • Plant Calendars
    • Pollination
    • Pollen
    • Roots
    • Scents
    • Seeds
    • Soil
    • Stems
    • Vascular Plants
    • Web of Interdependence
    • Weeds
  • Bloedel
  • Search
  • About
    • ERICA, ERICA'S TREE (and a short history of Guiding) - June 14, 2018
  • Contact