Tree · Elaeagnaceae
Silver buffaloberry
Shepherdia argentea
Silver buffaloberry is recorded as native to 16 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 210 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Silver buffaloberry at a glance
- Native in
- 210 counties, across 16 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 18 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Silver buffaloberry is recorded as native to 16 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 210 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 210 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arizona 1 county
- California 7 counties
- Colorado 13 counties
- Idaho 4 counties
- Iowa 2 counties
- Minnesota 10 counties
- Montana 37 counties
- Nebraska 26 counties
- Nevada 12 counties
- New Mexico 4 counties
- North Dakota 31 counties
- Oregon 2 counties
- South Dakota 19 counties
- Utah 19 counties
- Wisconsin 5 counties
- Wyoming 18 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 18 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 15 to 20 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 5.3 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- High
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 24 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 110
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- White-Gray
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- Medium
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Elaeagnaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SHAR
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Shepherdia argentea (PLANTS symbol SHAR).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources