buffalo berry

noun

either of two North American shrubs, Shepherdia argentea or S. canadensis, having silvery, oblong leaves and bearing edible yellow or red berries.
the fruit itself.

Origin of buffalo berry

An Americanism dating back to 1795–1805

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

There were some who stood their ground and formed an outward-facing circle around the low little buffalo-berry-hung grave.
Red Hunters And the Animal People | Charles A. Eastman
As soon as she discovered me, she hastened toward a creek heavily fringed with buffalo-berry bushes.
Red Hunters And the Animal People | Charles A. Eastman
The Canadian buffalo berry and a dwarfish birch are two mountain plants of no small ornamental value for the plains.
Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota, 1916 | Various
“I think his new berry was what we used to call the buffalo berry, in our railway surveys out West,” said Uncle Dick.
The Young Alaskans on the Missouri | Emerson Hough
The thickets were quite stripped of their foliage; the buffalo berry bushes alone yet bore some sere yellow leaves.
Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, v. 23 | Various

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