152 MISC. PUBLICATION 101, U. §. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
Atlantic to the Pacific and throughout the greater part of Canada 
and the United States except in the extreme North and in the South- 
eastern States. 
Common snowberry is an important forage species in nearly every 
portion of the West where it grows. In the interior regions its value 
ranges from medium to good or very good in the fall for cattle and 
especially so for sheep; in the Pacific States it is important, at least 
in late summer and fall. By some this species is ranked as the chief 
browse plant for sheep in Utah, southern Idaho, and Nevada and 
one of the most important species for cattle. In California it is 
usually held in high repute and is eaten down to the ground on 
overgrazed range. Excessive utilization will kill it out (47, 114). 
It is one of the relatively few native American shrubs to enter ex- 
tensively into the horticultural trade and is also much cultivated 
abroad. It is valued as an ornamental primarily on account of its 
handsome, waxy, snow-white, round berries. 
Spreading snowberry (S. mollis) is a low spreading Pacific spe- 
cies, ranging from Washington (and possibly Idaho) to California. 
In northern California, at least, it is ranked among the foremost 
local sheep browse plants. 
Western snowberry (S. occidentalis), a species of wide distribu- 
tion in the Middle and Far West, is generally held as fair to good 
winter cattle browse in the North, and in Utah especially it seems 
e be very palatable to cattle and is termed by stockmen “a strong 
eed. 
Roundleaf snowberry (S. rotundifolius), typical of New Mexico 
and the central and southern Rockies, but extending north to Idaho 
and west to California, is often common and furnishes fair to good 
sheep and goat browse. 
Whortleleaf snowberry (S. vaccinioides) (fig. 39) is typical of 
the northern Rocky Mountains and occurs from western Montana and 
southern Alberta to Washington, Nevada, and Colorado. Although 
its leaves are frequently small and thick and its palatability and 
value rather inferior to most of the species of the genus, it is often 
extensively grazed and is regarded, especially in the mountains of 
Utah, Nevada, and southern Idaho, as a good browse for sheep, goats, 
and cattle. Marsh, Clawson, and Roe (86) have forcibly fed sheep 
with the crushed fruit of this shrub, without effect, and conclude that 
for that class of livestock at least the fruit may be considered 
harmless. 
VIBURNUMS, CRANBERRYBUSHES, AND NANNYBERRY (VIBURNUM SPP.) 
Viburnum is a large genus of shrubs and trees found in all four 
hemispheres. Of the 20 species native to the United States 15 are 
confined to the eastern and southeastern States, 1 is exclusively west- 
ern, 2 are transcontinental, and 2 are typically eastern species which 
extend westward. The genus is typical of the cooler, moister re- 
gions, and is both better developed and more abundant toward the 
north. Only one species (Viburnum ellipticum) occurs in Cali- 
fornia, and the genus appears to be wholly absent from Nevada, 
Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. The browse value of the genus _ 
