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Plant Identification Guide
Common snowberry Symphoricarpos albus
Also Known As: White coralberry, snowberry
Plant Family: Honeysuckle (Caprifoliaceae)
Did you know? Some groups in the south used the branches of common
snowberry to make brooms and hollowed out the twigs to make pipe stems.
The hollow stems can also be used as whistles. The berries have been used to
settle upset stomachs after too much fatty food. The berries were also used as
treatment for burns, rashes, and sores. Common snowberry is very important as
a browse for many types of wildlife and livestock. It provides food and shelter
for various birds and small mammals. The berries and stems can be mildly toxic
to children and even fatal to some animals.
Identification Hints
An unusual feature of common
snowberry is its hollow stems. The
flowers of common snowberry
are pinkish-white and bell shape.
Creeping snowberry (Symphiocarpos
molis) is very similar. However, as its
name implies, it is a lower growing
shrub with a spreading habit.
Plant Description
This native, perennial shrub usually
grows to about 2 to 5 ft (0.6 to 1.5
m) tall. It forms thickets about 4 to
6 ft (1.2 to 1.8 m) wide. It is widely
dispersed throughout much of the
US.
Leaves: The leaves are green, large,
opposite. They are divided into five
to seven leaflets that are toothed or
irregularly lobed. They are leathery
and oval-shaped.
Flowers: The flowers are small, white
to creamy, with a strong unpleasant
odor. The flowers are tiny, pinkishwhite, bell-shaped and are found in
small clusters that resemble parasols.
The flowers bloom from mid-May to
July.
Comments
Fruit: The fruits are roundish, waxy,
dull-white berries that become brown
and almost blackish. Fruits ripen in
August or September.
Bark: The bark is tan-gray to grayishbrown and tends to split lengthwise on
the older stems.
Habitat: Common snowberry is found
along stream banks, in swampy thickets,
moist clearings, and open forest at sea
level to middle elevations. It tolerates a
variety of soil types but thrives in heavy
clay soils. It grows well in both shade
and sun. Common snowberry inhabits
slopes and valley bottoms of the
foothills of the Coast Ranges, the Sierra
Nevada, and the mountains of southern
California. It extends northward to
British Columbia and eastward to
Pennsylvania, West Virginia and the
New England states.
Compiled by: Sandra Henderson
Sources: USDA Plants Database; Lady Bird Johnson
Wildflower Center, Photo courtesy of Finley National
Wildlife Refuge
budburst.org
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