Common snowberry

Symphoricarpos albus

Deciduous shrub to small tree up to 6 ft. tall with round white berries from small clusters of white flowers, blooming April to October. Common, adapted to a wide variety of well-drained soil types and low nutrient conditions on dry to moist slopes in numerous types of forest, woodland, shrub and riparian communities; up to 9,000 ft. elevation. Rhizomatous, among the first recolonizers after wildfire. Browsed by livestock and wild ungulates, including deer, bighorn sheep, elk and moose. Important cover and food for small mammals and birds, including sharp-tailed, ruffed and blue grouse as well as wild turkeys. Floral visitors include numerous hummingbirds, native pollinator insects and honeybees. Caterpillar host of the Ashy pleromelloida and Vashti sphinx moths.