Symphoricarpos albus - (image 1 of 6)
Taxonomy
Family: Caprifoliaceae
Habitat
Dry or rocky soil.
Associates
Distribution
Quebec west to southern AK, south to VA, MI, MN, and CA.
Morphology
Low, bushy shrub to 1 m; branchlets thinly and softly pubescent. Leaves opposite, ovate to oval, entire to toothed or lobed, often hairy beneath, mostly 2-3 cm on short petioles. Flowers white or pink, in pairs or in few-flowered spikes; calyx, corolla, and stamens 5-merous; corolla 5-8 mm, ventricose, the lobes half as long or equaling the length of the tube; anthers 1-1.5 mm, about as long as the filaments; style glabrous, 2-3 mm; ovary 4-locular, each locule containing an ovule but only 2 of the ovules functional. Fruit a white, berry-like drupe containing 2 stones, 6-10 mm.
Notes
Flowers May to July
Wetland indicator: Upland
Frequently cultivated and sometimes escapes outside its native range.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of
Northeastern United States
and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
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Michael Hough © 2009 |