Plants Pacific Northwest

Symphoricarpos Rivularis/Albus - Snowberry

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Plate 213

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Symphoricarpos Rivularis/Albus: Snowberry, waxberry.

Snowberry is an introduced, deciduous shrub, 1-3 m high. It spreads by suckers and forms large thickets in the woodlands and shrubbery's, in which it has been planted for game cover.

The small, pink, bell-shaped, 5-petalled flowers are hairy inside and only 5-6mm across. They are arranged in spikes of 3-7 at the tips of branches and open from June to September.

The white, globe-shaped berries, 10-15 mm across, mature in autumn. Each berry has 2 parts each with a single seed, but they rarely ripen in Britain.

The berries are not very attractive to birds but are eaten by pheasants in hard winters.

The leaves are food for the caterpillars of Death's-head Hawk-moths.

It is a native of western North America, introduced to Britain in 1817.

The white, waxy looking berries are considered poisonous by the aboriginal peoples of the area. Somos of the common names given to the berries (in local native language), are Corpse berries, or Snake's berry, and Saskatoon berry of the people in the land of the dead. At least one tribe, the Stl'atl'imx, used the berries sparingly to settle upset stomachs from too much fatty food.