Species specifics: Buckbrush

Fast facts about buckbrush

A native deciduous brush species found throughout most of the United States, it is also known as western snowberry, western wolfberry or badgerbrush.
A notable identifier of buckbrush is by its yellowing leaves in the fall dotted with the whiteish fruits that will remain on the plant into the winter.
Buckbrush tends to develop dense colonies that foster environments for other woody species to encroach on grasslands, often entirely displacing other grass and favorable forage species.

What to look for

Buckbrush (Symphoricarpos occidentalis), also known as western snowberry, western wolfberry or badgerbrush, is a native deciduous shrub that develops dense colonies and can significantly reduce forage production.

Individual buckbrush plants grow 1 to 4 feet tall and equal distance in width. Colonies emerge from new plants that emerge from the underground rhizome offshoots that develop a dense, impenetrable thicket capable of spreading more than 30 feet wide. Buckbrush has fine, flexible stems that are green in younger plants and become brown and woody with time. Leaves are greyish green in spring and summer, transition to yellow before dropping in the fall, are soft and slightly fuzzy, and oval or broadly elliptic between 1 to 2 inches long paired opposite on the stems with smooth margins.

Early to midsummer, small pink to pale rose-colored bell-shaped flowers bloom, typically in May or June. Flowers are not particularly showy but are fragrant and are found in tight clusters at the ends of branches or leaf axils. Fleshy, pea-sized fruits approximately one-quarter inch in diameter emerge in August and are greenish to whiteish, which gives buckbrush the alternative common name of snowberry. Fruits will persist on the stem through the winter eventually turning dark blue to black once dried in late winter.

Buckbrush spreads in two ways: underground rhizomes that expand existing patches, and by seeds dispersed by wildlife — primarily via birds — or water runoff that can establish new colonies across a pasture, especially in bare soils.

Where it is found

Buckbrush is a native shrub found throughout much of the United States excluding the warm, humid climates of southeastern gulf climates or southwestern desert climates along the United States – Mexico border. Primary native ranges are in the Great Plains, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, however, while not native to New England, it has been introduced to several northeast states including Maine and Vermont.

Buckbrush can be found on most soil types except loose sands and can adapt to a variety of moisture and light levels. While it can be an effective erosion control mechanism, and often serves as premiere wildlife and bird habitats, it thrives in transition zones between forests and grasslands or in recently disturbed locations such as recently logged sites or overgrazed pastures, often to the point of entirely displacing grasses and non-woody plant species. Buckbrush is also fire tolerant and will reemerge from rhizomes and stem bases that survive burning due to their depths in the soil.

How to treat it

Because buckbrush tends to develop brush colonies that foster environments for other woody species to encroach on grasslands, reduction of colony densities to a more tolerable level often requires multiple herbicide treatments.

Apply 16 to 20 fluid ounces per acre of DuraCor® herbicide with 16 to 32 fluid ounces per acre of 2,4-D (4 pounds ae/gallon) in the spring to early summer before or during flowering and before leaves develop a waxy coating.

Under normal field conditions DuraCor® is non-volatile. DuraCor has no grazing or haying restrictions for any class of livestock, including lactating dairy cows, horses (including lactating mares) and meat animals prior to slaughter. Label precautions apply to forage treated with DuraCor to manure and urine from animals that have consumed treated forage. DuraCor is not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Always read and follow label directions.