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  • Shepherdia canadensis

Shepherdia canadensis

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Common name: Soapberry, buffaloberry


Shepherdia canadensis is a deciduous medium-sized shrub. Male and female flowers are on separate shrubs (dioecious). 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 and photos by Hughie Jones


The buffaloberry bush in the photos is planted close to the restaurant behind the bike racks (bed 43). It seems to be just one bush. But if you look into the plant, you will see another one growing very close to it. One plant only would mean no berries.


The berry pictures were taken in early June, and the female flower and male flower ones in spring. The female flowers are hard to see on this plant - quite a bit smaller and not as showy as the males. The other pictures were taken in September.

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  • Home
  • Updates
    • What's New
    • Garden Stories >
      • Garden Story Index
    • Self-Guided Tours
    • Gardener Walks
    • Curator Updates
    • Guide Training
    • Walks & Talks >
      • Walks and Talks 2025
      • Walks and Talks 2024
      • 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
        • Conifer Connect Exhibit
        • Deciduous Trees >
          • Dogwoods
          • Ginkgos
          • Magnolias
          • Witch Hazels
        • Native Trees
        • Tree of the Month
  • In the Garden
    • Map and Collection Lists >
      • Plant Locator
    • 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
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    • Web of Interdependence
    • Weeds
  • Bloedel
  • Search
    • Internet links
  • About
    • ERICA, ERICA'S TREE (and a short history of Guiding) - June 14, 2018
  • Contact