Editing Shepherdia argentea (section)

== Flowering, fruiting, and harvest ==

[[File:Shepherdia argentea 2017-05-23 0874.jpg|300px|Shepherdia argentea at the Berlin Botanic Garden]]

The species is dioecious: male and female flowers are produced on separate plants, and both are required for fruit.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup><sup>[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]</sup> The flowers are insect-pollinated, most commonly by honey bees and bumble bees.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup> Regional flowering dates run from April to July depending on location — about April–May in California, Nevada, Utah and Saskatchewan, May–June on the Great Plains, and May–July in Wyoming.<sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>

The berries form from late May and ripen by late summer — roughly July–September on the Great Plains and August–September in Saskatchewan — and are considered ripe when fully red.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup><sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup><sup>[[#cite_note-5|[5]]]</sup> Ripe fruit remains on the shrub, and dried berries may persist into the following spring.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup>

Fruit is harvested by shaking the branches onto a sheet or flat pan. For jellies, berries picked slightly underripe give higher pectin, and fruit gathered after a light frost is described as sweeter.<sup>[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup>