There are several kinds of Symphoricarpos, of North America and
Mexico; low, branching shrubs, with small leaves, scaly leaf-buds,
and small, pink or white flowers, with two bracts, in clusters; the
calyx roundish, with four or five teeth; the corolla regular, more or
less bell-shaped, with four or five lobes; the fruit a roundish, white
or red berry, containing two bony seeds. We often find Snowberries
cultivated in old-fashioned gardens.
[Sidenote: =Snowberry=
_Symphoricàrpos racemòsus_
=Pink
Spring, summer
U. S.=]
An attractive shrub, about four feet high, with slender branches and
yellowish twigs. The pretty leaves are mostly smooth, rich green, but
not glossy, paler and sometimes downy on the under side, thin, but
rather crisp in texture, usually with a few shallow scallops along
the margins. The flowers are about a quarter of an inch long, with
bell-shaped corollas, purplish-pink outside, white and woolly in the
inside, the stamens and style not protruding. The berry is large and
pure-white, with white, almost tasteless pulp, which is said to be
slightly poisonous. This is very common in California, in the hill
country, and is found across the continent.
[Sidenote: =Snowberry=
_Symphoricàrpos longiflòrus_
=White
Summer
Arizona=]
A straggling shrub, from two to three feet high, with small, slightly
velvety, rather pale green leaves, white on the under side, sometimes
set edgewise on the stem. The flowers are about half an inch long, with
a slender, white, salver-form corolla, with widely separating lobes and
very smooth inside, the anthers partially protruding from the throat,
and the pretty berries are waxy-white. This grows at the Grand Canyon.
[Sidenote: =Snowberry=
_Symphoricàrpos oreóphilus_
=Pink
Spring, summer
Idaho, Utah, Ariz.=]
A branching shrub, not especially pretty, about three feet high, with
shreddy bark, pinkish twigs, and light, bluish-green, toothless leaves,
usually smooth. The flowers are about half an inch long, with a tubular
corolla, with short lobes, flesh-color, tinged with purplish-pink, the
stamens and style not protruding and the buds purplish-pink. This grows
in the mountains, up to eight or ten thousand feet.
[Illustration: S. oreophilus.
S. longiflorus.