• GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS
• RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM
• REGENERATION PROCESSES
• SITE CHARACTERISTICS
• SUCCESSIONAL STATUS
• SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT

GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Common snowberry is a native, deciduous, shrub that is densely branched. Plants vary in height from 3 to 4.5 feet (1-1.5 m) [50,70,104]. In riparian habitats, common snowberry can reach a height of 6 feet (2 m) [70]. It has a rhizomatous growth habit with rhizomes 2 to 5 inches (5-12.5 cm) deep in mineral soil and commonly forms dense thickets. Flowers are borne in small clusters that produce white drupes. Each drupe contains 2 nutlets with 1 seed per nutlet [50,70,104].

One source [11] reports common snowberry to have a vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal relationship in British Columbia. In western Washington, common snowberry has been found to contain allelopathic chemicals [33].

RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM:

Phanerophyte

REGENERATION PROCESSES:

Common snowberry can regenerate by seeds, but rhizomes are the primary method of reproduction [50,104]. Rhizomes are occasionally connected in a mass of woody tissue from which multiple stems can regenerate; however, separate rhizomes are usually produced from which single stems arise [17]. This rhizomatous growth is released when fire or other disturbance kills the top of the plant [64,77,103] and can vary from site to site depending on conditions [64,77,84]. Plants sprouting from rhizomes are among the first to recolonize a site after a fire [64,103] and will often produce fruit the 1st growing season [16].

Seedbanks of common snowberry were analyzed in a postburn study [80], but the literature contains very little about postburn regeneration from seed. One study in an east-central Washington ponderosa pine/common snowberry community found common snowberry sprouted from roots, rhizomes, underground organs, or other perennial plant parts, but did not establish from seeds [87]. The seeds of this shrub are commonly dispersed by birds after they eat the fruit [104].

Common snowberry seeds will sprout in a nursery setting [54,78,96]. However, nutlets of common snowberry are extremely difficult to germinate because they have a hard, tough, impermeable covering and only a partially developed embryo [38].

SITE CHARACTERISTICS:

Common snowberry occurs on a wide variety of soil types [50]. It is tolerant of mildly acidic to moderately alkaline conditions and somewhat tolerant of salts. It can also survive under low nutrient conditions [115]. It does well on soils derived from limestone and not well on soils derived from granitic sources [49]. It is often found on disturbed, coarse-textured and rocky soils in Alberta [115]. It does best on well-drained soils [51,52,118].

These well-drained sites can range from warm dry slopes and open forests (where it is used as an indicator species) [51] to warm moist slopes [118] to riparian benches and terraces [52]. It will grow in partial shade, but prefers more open sites [115]

Elevation ranges for some western states include [3]:

 4,200 to 6,700 feet (1,572-2,061 m) in South Dakota
 5,500 to 7,900 feet (1,676-2,408 m) in Colorado
 4,200 to 8,300 feet (1,572-2,553 m) in Wyoming
 2,600 to 6,300 feet (800-1,938 m) in Montana
 7,700 to 9,200 feet (2,389-2,831 m) in Colorado and New Mexico
 2,600 to 5,400 feet (800-1353 m) in Idaho and Washington

SUCCESSIONAL STATUS:

Common snowberry occurs in early, mid-, and late successional stages and as a climax species. It is considered part of the climax community in the ponderosa pine/common snowberry habitat type in Idaho [101] and with Douglas-fir in warm dry habitat types [7]. It is late seral in ponderosa pine/ninebark habitat type in Idaho [101]. In thinleaf alder (Alnus incana)/common snowberry plant associations in Oregon, it is considered mid-seral [68]. It is included in early seral stages of 2 western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) habitat types in Idaho [119].

In general, common snowberry is a shrub characterized by survival through rhizomes. If it is on a site prior to disturbance, it will be become established in the initial postdisturbance year and may dominate early succession [71].

SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT:

Common snowberry initiates budding in early May in the northern Rocky Mountains. This budding can be delayed a month in Canada and Alaska or happen a month early in the Southwest depending on elevation and weather conditions. Leaves are full grown about 1 month after emergence. Flowers appear any time from May to August and may be present as late as September. Peak flowering time is June and July. Fruit ripening times are also variable, but typically occur during late August and early September, coinciding closely with leaf fall [50]. The fruits of this shrub commonly remain on the plant over winter [104].

Phenology for common snowberry east of the Continental Divide in Montana and Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, is [95]:

	Leaf buds burst	Leaves full grown	Flowers start	Flowers end	Fruits ripe	Seed fall starts	Leaves start to color	Leaves start to fall	Leaves fallen
Average date	May 6	June 14	July 4	July 22	Sept. 2	Sept. 14	Aug. 28	Sept. 9	Sept. 30
Earliest	Apr. 10	May 17	June 4	June 10	Aug. 7	Aug. 16	July 20	July 23	Aug. 28
Latest	June 7	July 10	Aug. 11	Aug. 21	Oct. 9	Oct. 14	Sep. 25	Oct. 15	Oct. 30

Related categories for SPECIES: Symphoricarpos albus | Common Snowberry