Monthly Archives: February 2017

Common Snowberry, Symphoricarpos albus

Common Snowberry           Caprifoliaceae-the Honeysuckle Family

 Symphoricarpos albus (L.) S.F. Blake

(sim-for-ih-CAR-poes  AL-bus)

Names: Symphori- means “bear together;” –carpos means fruits– referring to the clustered fruits.  Albus meaning white, and the common name, Snowberry also refers to the white fruits.  This species is sometimes known as Waxberry, White Coralberry, or White, Thin-leaved, or Few-flowered Snowberry.

Relationships: The genus Symphoricarpos has about 15 species, mostly native to North and Central America, with one from western China; 12 are found in the United States.  Western Snowberry, S. occidentalis, and Mountain Snowberry, S. oreophilis, are mostly found on the east side of the Cascades.  Trailing Snowberry, S. hesperius will be discussed in the groundcover section.  S. albus var. laevigatus (meaning smooth) is the most common phase found on the Pacific slopes and is more aggressive than the eastern form; it has also been known as S. rivularis or S. racemosa var. laevigatus.  It is more aggressive and differs from the S. albus var. albus by being larger, with larger berries and less hairy twigs and leaves.  It often escapes cultivation in the eastern United States, and has naturalized in parts of Britain.

Distribution of Common Snowberry from USDA Plants Database

Distribution: Common Snowberry is found from southeast Alaska to southern California; all across the northern United States and the Canadian provinces.

Growth: This species usually grows 3-9 feet (1-2m) tall.

Habitat: It is found in in dry to moist open forests, clearings, and rocky slopes. It is very adaptable to different conditions. Wetland designation: FACU, it usually occurs in non-wetlands but occasionally is found in wetlands.

 

 

Diagnostic Characters: Oval leaves are opposite with smooth or wavy-toothed margins; sometimes hairy on the undersides; often larger and irregularly lobed on sterile shoots.  Flowers are small, pink to white bells in dense, few-flowered clusters.  Fruit are white berry-like drupes containing two nutlets.

Leaves can be entire or lobed.

In the Landscape: Common Snowberry has long been grown as an ornamental shrub.  Winter is its most conspicuous season, where its white berries stand out against leafless branches.  Its dainty pinkish flowers are also attractive.  Common Snowberry spreads by root suckers and is best given plenty of space to create a wild thicket.  It tolerates poor soil and neglect.  It is great for controlling erosion on slopes, riparian plantings, for restoration and mine reclamation projects. It is also popular in Rain Gardens.

Phenology: Bloom time: May-August; Fruit ripens: September-October, persisting through winter.

 

 

Propagation: Stratify seeds warm for 90 days, then stratify for 180 days at 40º (4º C), or sow as soon as seeds are ripe in a cold frame.  Cuttings of half-ripe wood may be taken in July or August or of mature wood in winter.  Suckers may be divided in the dormant season.  Plants resprout from rhizomes after a fire.

 

Use by People:  Snowberries are high in saponins, which are poorly absorbed by the body.  Although they are largely considered poisonous, (given names like ‘corpse berry’ or ‘snake’s berry’), some tribes ate them fresh or dried them for later consumption.  The berries were used as a shampoo to clean hair.  Crushed berries were also rubbed on the skin to treat burns, warts, rashes and sores; and rubbed in armpits as an antiperspirant.  Various parts were infused and used as an eyewash for sore eyes.  A tea made from the roots was used for stomach disorders; a tea made from the twigs was used for fevers.  Branches were tied together to make brooms.  Bird arrows were also made from the stems.

Use by Wildlife: Saponins are much more toxic to some animals, such as fish; hunting tribes sometimes put large quantities of snowberries in streams or lakes to stupefy or kill fish. “The Green River tribe say that when these berries are plentiful, there will be many dog salmon, for the white berry is the eye of the dog salmon.” Common snowberry is an important browse for deer, antelope, and Bighorn Sheep; use by elk and moose varies.  The berries are an important food for grouse, grosbeaks, robins and thrushes.  Bears also eat the fruit.  The shrub provides good cover and nesting sites for gamebirds, rabbits, and other small animals.  Pocket gophers burrow underneath it. The pink flowers attract hummingbirds, but are mostly pollinated by bees.  The leaves are eaten by the Sphinx Moth larvae.

Links:

USDA Plants Database

Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

WTU Herbarium Image Collection, Plants of Washington, Burke Museum

E-Flora BC, Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Jepson Eflora, University of California

Calphotos

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

USDA Forest Service-Fire Effects Information System

Virginia Tech ID Fact Sheet

Native Plants Network, Propagation Protocol Database

Plants for a Future Database

Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn

Black Twinberry Lonicera involucrata

Black Twinberry                       Caprifoliaceae-the Honeysuckle Family

Lonicera involucrata (Richardson) Banks ex Spreng.

(Lon-IH-sir-ruh  in-voh-loo-KRAY-tuh)

Names:  Black Twinberry is also known as Involucred, Bracted, Bearberry, Fly or Fourline Honeysuckle; or Coast Twinberry.  Involucrata refers to the involucres, or bracts that surround the flowers and fruit. Twinberry refers to the 2 berries surrounded by the bracts.

Relationships:  Honeysuckles have long been a garden favorite, grown mostly for their sweetly-scented, nectar-producing flowers.  The common name, honeysuckle, comes from the fact that children enjoy sucking nectar from the base of the flowers for a sweet treat.  Plants in the genus, Lonicera, are often twining vines but many are arching shrubs.  There are about 180 species in the Northern Hemisphere, with about 100 from China, ~20 from North America, and the rest from Europe or North Africa.  The name Lonicera is derived from Adamus Lonicerus (Adam Lonitzer), a German botanist, author of the herbal, Kräuterbuch (1557).  Unfortunately, many invasive ornamental species of Lonicera may be found growing in natural areas.

Distribution of Black Twinberry from USDA Plants Database

Distribution:  This species is found from southeast Alaska to southern California; across most of Canada; from western Montana to Chihuahua in northern Mexico; with isolated communities in the Great Lakes region; listed as endangered in Wisconsin and threatened in Michigan.

Growth:  It grows from 1.5-9 feet (.5-3m)

Habitat: Black Twinberry is found in moist, open forests, streamsides, and edges.  Wetland designation: FAC+*, Facultative, it is equally likely to occur in wetlands or non-wetlands.

Diagnostic Characters: Black Twinberry has opposite leaves that are broadly lance-shaped. It has paired, tubular, yellow flowers arising from the leaf axils.  The flowers are 5-lobed, surrounded by large, green or purple bracts.  Fruits are shiny, black “twin” berries surrounded by purplish-red bracts.  Young, green twigs are 4-angled in cross-section.

 

In the Landscape:  It is an attractive shrub and should be used more in the garden.  It is a great “edge” species when planted between a forest and more open area.  It can be used in a hedgerow or in a Rain Garden.  Its fresh, green leaves are similar to Indian Plum; and its dainty, yellow flowers and colorful bracts add interest throughout spring, summer, and fall. Black Twinberry is great for reclamation plantings on riparian sites, in wet meadows and in forests.

Phenology: Bloom time:  April-August (May at peak); Fruit ripens: September.

 

 

Propagation:  Stratify seeds at 38º (3º C) for 120 days or sow them as soon as they are ripe in a cold frame. Cuttings of half-ripe wood may be taken in July or August or of mature wood in November.  Layering in the fall is also possible.

Use by People: Natives used the leaves, bark and twigs for a variety of medicinal purposes. An infusion of bark was used as a soak for sore feet and legs, as an eyewash, or in the treatment of coughs.  Women chewed the leaves during confinement.  Leaves were also chewed and applied to itchy skin and various sores.  The berries were mostly considered poisonous, but were sometimes eaten for food.  The fruit or leaves were used to induce vomiting for purification or after poisoning.  The berries were applied to the scalp to prevent dandruff or to prevent hair from turning gray.  The juice of the berries was used to paint the faces of dolls and for basketry dye.

Use by Wildlife: Most tribes associate this plant with the crow; other birds such as grouse, grosbeaks, juncos, waxwings, thrushes, flickers, finches, and quail eat the berries too.  Bears also eat the berries.  Black Twinberry provides cover for small animals.  Although hummingbirds may visit Twinberry flowers, they are mostly pollinated by insects, as are many “Fly Honeysuckles.”

 Links:

USDA Plants Database

Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

WTU Herbarium Image Collection, Plants of Washington, Burke Museum

E-Flora BC, Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Jepson Eflora, University of California

Calphotos

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

Virginia Tech ID Fact Sheet

Native Plants Network, Propagation Protocol Database

Plants for a Future Database

Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn

 

Red Twinberry

Lonicera utahensis S. Watson

Red Twinberry is similar to Black Twinberry but has more rounded leaves and lacks the big bracts surrounding the flowers and fruit; it has red fruit and its flowers are a creamy-yellow, nearly white.  It is found from southern British Columbia to central Oregon in the Olympic Mountains, North Cascades, and central Oregon; and in the Rocky Mountains from Alberta to the border of Arizona and New Mexico.  It can be used similarly in the landscape as Black Twinberry.  It is a valuable summer and fall browse for elk, but a minor browse species for white-tailed deer and moose.  Fruits are dispersed by birds, such as grouse, rodents, and bears.

Links:

USDA Plants Database

Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

WTU Herbarium Image Collection, Plants of Washington, Burke Museum

E-Flora BC, Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Calphotos

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

USDA Forest Service-Fire Effects Information System

Virginia Tech ID Fact Sheet

Native Plants Network, Propagation Protocol Database

Plants for a Future Database

Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn

 

There are two other smaller Honeysuckle shrubs that may be encountered in the Pacific Northwest. Bluefly Honeysuckle, Lonicera caerulea var. cauriana has white “twin” flowers and grows 0.5-6 feet (0.2-m) tall.  The Eurasian variety, Sweetberry Honeysuckle, Lonicera caerulea var. edulis is widely grown in Russia for its edible blue berries; ours have red berries (a thin fleshy cup).  Purpleflower Honeysuckle or Boob-berry, Lonicera conjugialis grows 0.5-4.5 feet (0.6-1.5m) and has reddish-purple flowers followed by paired red berries that are often fused together.  Both are found mostly in the mountains; from Mount Adams, in Washington, through the Cascades in Oregon to the Sierras of California, with a few in the northern Rockies.  Both bloom in June or July; and may be good choices in a landscape where smaller shrubs are desired.