BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Symphoricarpos longiflorus | Longflower Snowberry 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Longflower snowberry is a low, spreading, deciduous shrub with somewhat
drooping branchlets [21].  Heights range from 3.3 to 5 feet (1-1.5 m).
Persistent, smaller branches tend to give plants a thorny appearance
[4].  This species exhibits wide ecotypic variation in leaf and twig
pubescence [9].  Longflower snowberry is monoecious.


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Information concerning regenerative processes in longflower snowberry is
scant.  Morphologically similar mountain snowberry regenerates via
rhizomes, basal sprouts, stolons, and seed [17,18].  Although many
members of the Symphoricarpos genus are highly rhizomatous, the extent
to which this habit is developed in longflower snowberry is unclear.

The general pattern for seed production in the Symphoricarpos genus has
been described by Pelton [14] for western snowberry (S. occidentalis)
and apparently also applies to longflower snowberry [15].  Fruits are
white, berrylike drupes containing two, seedlike nutlets which ripen in
the fall.  Since no abscision layer is formed on the pedicle, fruits can
persist on shrubs for up to two seasons before falling to the ground.
Nutlets have a double dormancy which delays germination and
establishment [6].  Seed coat restrictions are eliminated through
storage in warm, moist soil; afterripening and development of the embryo
occur during one or two winters in the soil.  Seeds do not remain viable
for extended periods in nature.  Birds or mammals are probably the main
dispersal agents; field mice scatter seeds, and plants are widely
distributed from their caches.  Germination begins in the early spring
as soon as the soil thaws.  First-year seedlings are quite sensitive to
drought.


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Longflower snowberry typically occurs on open, rocky slopes and washes
at elevations ranging between 4,500 and 7,500 feet (1,372 and 2,287 m).
It occurs on sites more xeric than those occupied by mountain snowberry
[17].  Longflower snowberry is usually a component of pinyon-juniper
communities [15] but extends down into the sagebrush-grassland and cold
desert on sites receiving 8 to 9 inches (20-23 cm) minimum annual
precipitation.  In the mountain brush and ponderosa pine zones, the
ranges of longflower snowberry and mountain snowberry sometimes overlap
[4].

Elevational ranges for some western states are listed below [4].

	From  5,000 to 5,000 feet (1,524-1,524 m) in CO
              5,000 to 7,400 feet (1,524-2,256 m) in UT



SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Longflower snowberry is present in nonforested and forested climax
communities throughout its range.  Self-perpetuating stands are
indicative of climax conditions [3].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Flowering generally occurs from May through July [5].

Related categories for Species: Symphoricarpos longiflorus | Longflower Snowberry