Economic/Ethnobotanical Uses

Like other species of Shepherdia, roundleaf buffaloberry is a nitrogen fixer and thus has been used on sites undergoing reclamation to add nitrogen to the soil [4]. The Navajo make a lotion of ashes to soothe headaches, toothaches, and sore throats, and to heal a baby’s navel [5].

Other species of Shepherdia produce sweet, red berries that are eaten raw or cooked by many Native American tribes in soups, jellies, and other preparations, and are a critical component of pemmican, a dried meat and fat staple for winter months [6]. However, Shepherdia rotundifolia berries are said to start out sweet when chewed but turn quite bitter as an aftertaste, and are thus rarely eaten. All species of Shepherdia contain saponins, chemicals that foam when whipped with water. They are used by Native Americans to create “Indian Ice Cream” by whipping the berries with sugar and hot water to produce a foamy, meringue-like desert [6]. Saponins provide protection against fungi, bacteria, and insect herbivory and thus used to help preserve pemmican [6]. The foaming action of the saponins acts as a natural soap and gives the genus another of its common names: soapberry.