Bailey & Bailey: Woody Plants of National Parks 215 



Fig. 127. Common snowberry (^Symphoricarpos albus). 



hairy below, I/4 to I1/2 inches long; flowers white or pinkish, the corollas 

 densely hairy within, borne few to several in rather crowded clusters at the 

 ends of the branches and in the leaf-axils; berries white, round or oval, 1/3 

 to 1/2 inch in diameter. (Syn. S. racemosus Michx.) . 



The leaves, particularly of the sterile shoots, are very variable and there 

 is considerable variation in type and amount of hairiness of the herbage. 

 Several different forms have been named, such as S. occidentalis Hook., with 

 protruding stamens and styles, and the dwarf hairy S. pauciflorus Blake with 

 fewer flowers. Also, there is the more luxuriant Pacific coast variety laevigatus 

 Blake (syn. S. rividaris Suksd.), a generally taller form with mostly smooth 

 leaves and larger fruits. This is the variety most commonly cultivated in 

 gardens. It is native west of the Continental Divide. 



Occurrence. — OLYMPIC, at lower elevations: Mount Angeles; Elwha River; En- 

 chanted Valley. CRATER LAKE, rare: south entrance. GLACIER, common, 3,000 to 

 5,000 feet: Swiftcurrent Lake; trail to Iceberg Lake; St. Mary Lake; Cut Bank 

 Valley; Belton; Lake McDonald. YELLOWSTONE: Mammoth; lower slopes of Electric 

 Peak. MESA VERDE. GRAND CANYON, On the North Rim. isLE ROYALE, common: trail 

 to Lake Richie; Daisy Farm; old Rock Harbor lighthouse; Greenstone Ridge between 

 Mount Ojibway and Monument Rock. 



2. Spreading Snowberry {Symphoricarpos mollis Nutt.).^ — Low 

 spreading or more or less trailing shrubs 1 foot high; leaves oval to elliptic, 

 pointed at the tips or rounded, i^ to 2/3 inch long, often lobed or irregularly 

 toothed, hairy on both sides, especially below; flowers white or pink, borne 

 towards the ends of the branches in small clusters in the leaf-axils; berries 

 white, globose, about I/4 inch in diameter. 



As is true of all the species of snowberry, this trailing form is very variable 

 in leaf-shape and in the type and quantity of hairiness. Hence it has been 

 divided into several species. Washington snowberry {S. hesperius G. N. 



