Symphoricarpos, with common names in English of Snowberry, Waxberry or Ghostberry, is a small genus of about 15 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of deciduous

Deciduous

Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...

 shrub

Shrub

A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...

s in the honeysuckle

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 180 species of honeysuckle, 100 of which occur in China; Europe, India and North America have only about 20 native species each...

 family, Caprifoliaceae

Caprifoliaceae

The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade consisting of about 800 dicotyledonous flowering plants, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution; centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and eastern Asia, while they are absent in tropical and southern Africa.They are mostly...

. All species are natives of North

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, except one native to western China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. The name of the genus is derived from the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 words συμφορειν (symphorein), meaning "to bear together," and καρπος (karpos), meaning "fruit." It refers to the closely packed berries the species produce.

Description

The Symphoricarpos leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 are 1.5–5 cm long, rounded, entire or with one or two lobes at the base. The flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s are small, greenish-white to pink, in small clusters of 5–15 together in most species, solitary or in pairs in some (e.g. S. microphyllus). The fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

 are conspicuous, 1–2 cm in diameter, soft, varying from white (e.g. S. albus) to pink (S. microphyllus) to red (S. orbiculatus

Symphoricarpos orbiculatus

Symphoricarpos orbiculatus, commonly called coralberry, buckbrush or Indian currant is a woody species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family.-Description:...

) and in one species (S. sinensis), blackish purple. When the white berries are broken open, the fruit inside looks like fine, sparkling granular snow.

Ecology

Common Snowberry (S. albus

Symphoricarpos albus

Symphoricarpos albus is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common name common snowberry. It is native to North America, where it occurs across much of Canada and the northern United States. It grows in shady and moist mountain and forest habitat, in woodlands and on...

) is an important winter food source for quail

Quail

Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally considered in the order Galliformes. Old World quail are found in the family Phasianidae, while New World quail are found in the family Odontophoridae...

, pheasant

Pheasant

Pheasants refer to some members of the Phasianinae subfamily of Phasianidae in the order Galliformes.Pheasants are characterised by strong sexual dimorphism, males being highly ornate with bright colours and adornments such as wattles and long tails. Males are usually larger than females and have...

, and grouse

Grouse

Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes. They are sometimes considered a family Tetraonidae, though the American Ornithologists' Union and many others include grouse as a subfamily Tetraoninae in the family Phasianidae...

, but is considered poisonous to humans. The berries contain the isoquinoline

Isoquinoline

Isoquinoline is a heterocyclic aromatic organic compound. It is a structural isomer of quinoline. Isoquinoline and quinoline are benzopyridines, which are composed of a benzene ring fused to a pyridine ring. In a broader sense, the term isoquinoline is used to make reference to isoquinoline...

 alkaloid

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...

 chelidonine, as well as other alkaloids. Ingesting the berries causes mild symptoms of vomiting, dizziness, and slight sedation

Sedation

Sedation is the reduction of irritability or agitation by administration of sedative drugs, generally to facilitate a medical procedure or diagnostic procedure...

 in children.

Selected species

Symphoricarpos acutus (A.Gray) Dieck – Sharpleaf snowberry Symphoricarpos albus Symphoricarpos albus Symphoricarpos albus is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common name common snowberry. It is native to North America, where it occurs across much of Canada and the northern United States. It grows in shady and moist mountain and forest habitat, in woodlands and on... (L.) S.F.Blake – Common snowberry S. albus var. albus S. albus var. laevigatus (Fernald) S.F.Blake Symphoricarpos ×chenaultii Rehder – Chenault coralberry Symphoricarpos ×doorenbosii Krüssm. Symphoricarpos guadalupensis Correll – McKittrick's snowberry Symphoricarpos hesperius G.N.Jones – Trailing snowberry Symphoricarpos longiflorus Symphoricarpos longiflorus Symphoricarpos longiflorus is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common names desert snowberry and fragrant snowberry. It is native to the western United States from the Great Basin to Texas, where it grows in rocky desert habitat, sagebrush, chaparral, forests,... A.Gray – Desert snowberry Symphoricarpos mexicanus – Mexican snowberry

Symphoricarpos microphyllus Kunth – Littleleaf snowberry Symphoricarpos mollis Symphoricarpos mollis Symphoricarpos mollis is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family. It is found across western North America.... Nutt. – Creeping snowberry Symphoricarpos occidentalis Symphoricarpos occidentalis Symphoricarpos occidentalis, commonly called Western snowberry or Wolfberry, is a woody species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family... Hook. – Western snowberry, Wolfberry Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Symphoricarpos orbiculatus, commonly called coralberry, buckbrush or Indian currant is a woody species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family.-Description:... Moench – Coralberry Symphoricarpos oreophilus A.Gray – Mountain snowberry Symphoricarpos palmeri G.N.Jones – Palmer's snowberry Symphoricarpos rotundifolius Symphoricarpos rotundifolius Symphoricarpos rotundifolius is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common name roundleaf snowberry. It is native to the western United States from California to Idaho to Texas, where it grows in many types of habitat. It is an erect, spreading, or trailing shrub... A.Gray – Roundleaf snowberry S. rotundifolius var. parishii (Rydb.) Dempster S. rotundifolius var. rotundifolius Symphoricarpos sinensis – Chinese coralberry

Cultivation and uses

Common snowberry is a popular ornamental shrub

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...

 in garden

Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...

s, grown for its decorative white fruit and wildlife gardening.

External links

• USDA PLANTS Profile
• Winter ID pictures
• Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System Notes on poisoning: thin-leaved snowberry
• Symphoricarpos orbiculatus images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu