AMERICAN HONEY PLANTS 



133 



INDIAN CURRANT (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus). 



The Indian currant, also known as coral berry or buckbrush, is a 

 widely distributed shrub that furnishes considerable nectar in late summer. 

 It may be found in the woodland borders and open forest from New York, 

 west to the Dakotas, south to Missouri and Arkansas, and from New Jer- 

 sey south along the mountains to Georgia and Alabama. 



The blossoms are very small and inconspicuous (Fig. 80), but where the 

 plant is abundant it is much sought by the bees. In southeastern Iowa, 

 the season of 1914 was a very poor one for the bees, and many colonies re- 

 quired feeding to get them through the winter. In a few localities, where 



juckbrush. she 



buckbrush abounds, they not only were well prepared for winter, but 

 stored some surplus. The blooming season is July and August in most 

 Northern States, so that the clover harvest is usually nearly over when it 

 comes on. Figure 81 shows the bunches of red berries that hang on the 

 bushes after the leaves have withered and dropped, which will be in- 

 stantly recognized by anyone familiar with the plant. These berries are 

 often about the only winter food available for small birds when the ground 

 is covered with snow. 



The snowberry (S. racemosus) (Fig. 82). is a related species with white 

 berries. It occurs from New England west to Nebraska and Dakota, also 

 on the North Pacific Coast. The plant is quite similar to the red-berried 

 species in habit and growth and is also often called buckbrush. 



