Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos Albus)
Honeysuckle Family (Caprifoliaceae)

Also known as Waxberry, this small shrub can be found throughout the arboretum. It grows as a scramble of small twigs that has a feeling of being both dense and airy at the same time. Its thin branches are a light gray-brown. It grows from 3 to 7 feet tall.

Buds & Leaves

The buds are small and elegant. There beautiful, rich pink color are a heart-warming sight in the winter. They are small pilot lights waiting to ignite the bursting green of spring.

Leaves and twigs are opposite. The leaves on the plant can vary. On the mature snowberry bushes the leaves are typically oval to elliptical about an inch or so long. The new sprouts have variable can have a variable number and sizes of lobes on the leaves.

Flowers & Fruit

The tiny flowers are bell-shaped and less than a quarter inch. The petals are pinkish to white and fused over half their length.

The berries are tightly clustered together and are pure white. They are two-seeded and pulpy. So far in my observations, I have only seen rufous-sided towhees eating the berries.

Pollinators

These tiny flowers bloom for a long time and attract many pollinators—hummingbirds, bumblebees, and other insects.

Bark

The bark is a light gray-brown.

References

Mathews, Daniel. Cascade-Olympic Natural History. Raven Editions in conjunction with Portland Audubon Society, 1988.
Pojar, Jim, and Andy MacKinnon. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast: Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alaska (Revised). B.C. Ministry of Forests and Lone Pine Publishing, 1994.

Quick Reference:

Height: 3 - 7’ tall
Leaves: Opposite, most are oval to elliptical, varies with maturity
Flowers: Small - 1/4”, pinkish to white, bell-shaped
Fruit: Berries, 2-seeded, white, tightly clustered
Habitat: Dry to moist, open woods, stream banks, low elevations

Photo Location:
Mt. Pisgah Arboretum
Eugene, OR