Symphoricarpos

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Symphoricarpos
Symphoricarpos albus 7927.jpg
Common snowberry ( S. albus )
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Dipsacales
Family: Caprifoliaceae
Subfamily: Caprifolioideae
Genus: Symphoricarpos
Duhamel 1755 [1] [2]
Synonyms [3]
  • SymphoricarpusWilld. 1818
  • SymphoricarpaNecker 1790
  • SymphoriaPers. 1818
  • AnisanthusWilld. ex Roem. & Schult. 1819
  • MargarisDC. 1830 not Griesb. 1866
  • DeseliaeaDC. 1830

Symphoricarpos, commonly known as the snowberry, waxberry, or ghostberry, is a small genus of about 15 species of deciduous shrubs in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. With the exception of the Chinese coralberry, S. sinensis , which is indigenous to western China, all species are native to North and Central America. The name of the genus is derived from the Ancient Greek words συμφορεῖν (sumphoreîn), meaning "to bear together", and καρπός (karpós), meaning "fruit". It refers to the closely packed clusters of berries the species produces. [4]

Contents

Snowberry is a resilient plant able to withstand a variety of conditions. Their deep roots allow them to survive dry seasons,  and they have been known to grow in a variety of soil types such as light sandy soil, medium loamy soil and heavier clay soil. [5] Snowberry plants are most commonly found low-to mid elevations, in forests, dry or moist openings, rocky hillsides or near riverbanks and streams. [5] Snowberry plants are also able to grow in a wide range of acidic and basic pHs and sunlight conditions. [5]

Description

Symphoricarpos leaves are 1.5–5 cm (0.59–1.97 in) long, rounded, entire or with one or two lobes at the base. [6] The flowers are small, greenish-white to pink, in small clusters of 5–15 together in most species, solitary or in pairs in some (e.g. S. microphyllus). The fruit is conspicuous, 1–2 cm (0.5–1 in) in diameter, soft, varying from white (e.g. S. albus) to pink ( S. microphyllus ) to red ( S. orbiculatus ) and in one species ( S. sinensis ), blackish purple. When the white berries are broken open, the interior looks like fine, sparkling granular snow. The flesh is spongy and contains two 2–5 mm long, whitish stone seeds. The seeds, which contain endosperm and a small embryo, are egg-shaped and more or less flattened. They have a very tough, hard, impermeable covering, and so are very hard to germinate and may lie dormant for up to ten years.

The berries are not edible but have a wintergreen flavor, similar to the related wintergreen plant ( Gaultheria procumbens ).

The white berries create a cracking sound when they are stepped into firm ground.

Species

Species accepted as of August 2015 [7]

Ecology

Snowberry is a hermaphroditic species meaning it contains both male and female reproductive organs. [8] It has the ability to grow via seeds but typically reproduces by releasing shoots from a rhizome. This method of shoot dispersal allows snowberry to grow in dense populations of bushes and trees. [8] Snowberry plants also tend to use a reproductive method called layering in which the plant's vertical stems will wilt and droop until they touch surrounding soil. [9] Upon making contact with soil, roots will begin to form. Snowberry plants are resilient and studies have proved they are able to tolerate dormant seasonal fires. These fires actually encourage the snowberry plant's layering reproductive method, as the regeneration of new plants results in an increased number of stems and therefore more opportunities for layering to occur. [9]

Common snowberry ( S. albus ) is a resilient plant that thrives in dry woodland conditions. [10] Its berries ripen during fall and last through winter, making it an important winter food source for quail and grouse. However, the berries are considered poisonous to humans. The berries contain the isoquinoline alkaloid chelidonine, as well as other alkaloids. Ingesting the berries causes mild symptoms of vomiting, dizziness, and slight sedation in children.

Cultivation

Common snowberry is a popular ornamental shrub in gardens, grown for its decorative white fruit and wildlife gardening. It is also a useful landscaping plant due to its extreme versatility—tolerating sun, shade, heat, cold, drought, and inundation.

Medicinal uses

Due to their low saponin content, snowberry was a common medicinal treatment used by several North American Indigenous tribes. Snowberry contains low concentrations of saponins, which are anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory. [11] Saponins have also been proven to help with immune function and decrease cholesterol. [11] Saponins can be extremely toxic if consumed in excess, [11] but are typically applied externally or consumed in concentrations too low to inflict damage. [12] Its toxic effects can also be reduced through cooking. [13]

The snowberry plant is known to be disinfectant, laxative, diuretic and has the ability to reduce fever. [12] Native Americans found several uses for the snowberry plant. Snowberry leaves were chewed up and used in a poultice to treat external wounds. [12] Its berries were used for a number of applications including as an eyewash, as an antiperspirant, a diarrhea remedy, and was also rubbed on the skin as a treatment for burns, rashes, warts, sores, cuts and other external wounds. [12] Snowberry stems were boiled and their essence was extracted to be used for stomach problems, menstrual pain, and as a soap. Weaker dilutions were used for children, meanwhile stronger concentrations were used as a disinfectant to clean open sores. [12] Snowberry bark was also boiled, its essence extracted and used to treat sexually transmitted diseases and urinary dysfunction issues. Its roots were commonly used in the treatment of fever, stomach ache, common cold, and even tuberculosis. [12] In California, the Coastal Miwok used pounded snowberry root to treat ailments as the cold. [14]

Due to the content of saponins in the berries, some tribes of the Pacific Northwest used the crushed fruits to stun fish in lakes and rivers in order to facilitate the harvesting of fish. The saponins, which are not toxic to humans interfere with oxygen absorption in the gills. [15]

Other uses

In Ireland, children use the berries for play, bursting the berries close to each other's ears. The berries are known as "billy busters". [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caprifoliaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade of dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of about 860 species in 33 to 42 genera, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution. Centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and eastern Asia, while they are absent in tropical and southern Africa.

<i>Physalis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Physalis is a genus of approximately 75 to 90 flowering plants in the nightshade family (Solanaceae), which are native to the Americas and Australasia. At least 46 species are endemic to Mexico. Cultivated and weedy species have been introduced worldwide. A defining feature of Physalis is a large, papery husk derived from the calyx, which partly or fully encloses the fruit. Many species bear edible fruit, and some species are cultivated.

<i>Sphinx vashti</i> Species of moth

Sphinx vashti, the Vashti sphinx, is a member of the family Sphingidae of moths. It is found in North America from British Columbia east to Manitoba, south to southern California, Nevada, central Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas.

<i>Rhus integrifolia</i> Species of shrub

Rhus integrifolia, also known as lemonade sumac, lemonade berry, or lemonadeberry, is a shrub to small tree. It is native to the Transverse and Peninsular Ranges and the South Coast regions of Southern California. This extends from Santa Barbara County and the Channel Islands to San Diego County and extending into north-central Pacific coastal Baja California and its offshore islands such as Cedros Island.

<i>Vaccinium ovatum</i> Berry and plant

Vaccinium ovatum is a North American species of huckleberry in the heather family commonly known as the evergreen huckleberry, winter huckleberry, cynamoka berry and California huckleberry. It has a large distribution on the Pacific Coast of North America ranging from southern British Columbia to southern California. It is a tall woody shrub that produces fleshy, edible berries in the summer. The plant is used for food, natural landscaping, and floral arrangements.

<i>Symphoricarpos mollis</i> Species of shrub

Symphoricarpos mollis, with the common names creeping snowberry, Southern California snowberry, and trip vine, is a shrub in the Honeysuckle Family (Caprifoliaceae). It is found in western North America from British Columbia to California inland to Nevada and Idaho.

<i>Symphoricarpos occidentalis</i> Species of flowering plant

Symphoricarpos occidentalis, commonly called western snowberry, is a woody species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family.

<i>Symphoricarpos orbiculatus</i> Species of flowering plant

Symphoricarpos orbiculatus, commonly called coralberry, buckbrush or Indian currant is a woody species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family.

<i>Symphoricarpos albus</i> Species of flowering plant

Symphoricarpos albus is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common name common snowberry. Native to North America, it is browsed by some animals and planted for ornamental and ecological purposes, but is poisonous to humans.

<i>Symphoricarpos longiflorus</i> Species of flowering plant

Symphoricarpos longiflorus is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common names desert snowberry and fragrant snowberry. It is native to the western United States from the Great Basin to western Texas, as well as northwestern Mexico.

<i>Symphoricarpos rotundifolius</i> Species of shrub

Symphoricarpos rotundifolius is a North American subshrub in the honeysuckle family, also known by the common name round-leaved snowberry.

<i>Gaultheria hispidula</i> Species of plant

Gaultheria hispidula, commonly known as the creeping snowberry or moxie-plum, and known to Micmaq tribes of Newfoundland as Manna Teaberry, is a perennial spreading ground-level vine of the heath family Ericaceae. It is native to North America and produces small white edible berries. It fruits from August to September. Its leaves and berries taste and smell like wintergreen.

<i>Symphoricarpos oreophilus</i> Species of flowering plant

Symphoricarpos oreophilus is a North American species of flowering plant in the Caprifoliaceae, or honeysuckle family, known by the common name mountain snowberry. It has a wide distribution in western Canada, the United States, and northwestern Mexico. It is found in mountainous areas such as the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada, the Rockies, and the Sierra Madre Occidental from British Columbia to the Copper Canyon region of Chihuahua, from the coastal states as far inland as the Black Hills, the Oklahoma Panhandle, and trans-Pecos Texas.

<i>Sericocarpus rigidus</i> Species of plant

Sericocarpus rigidus is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Columbian whitetop aster. It is native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, where it is known from southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia south along the coast to Washington and Oregon.

Bird food plants are certain trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants bearing fruits which afford food for birds. These have been discovered by observation, and by the scientific examination of the contents of birds' stomachs. By planting those species, therefore, which have been proved most desirable and that are suited to the climate and soil of the chosen location, birds can be attracted to the vicinity of dwelling houses or to any other desired spot as a copse or shrubbery, or, on the other hand, lured away from valuable orchards, since they appear to like best arid, bitter, sour or aromatic fruits, distasteful to human beings, even better than the cultivated kinds.

<i>Actaea elata</i> Species of flowering plant

Actaea elata is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common name tall bugbane. It is native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, where it can be found in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon.

Symphoricarpos acutus, the sharpleaf snowberry, is a North American species of trailing shrubs in the honeysuckle family. It is native to the western United States.

Symphoricarpos microphyllus, the pink snowberry, is a North American species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family. It is widespread across much of Mexico from Chihuahua to Chiapas, and found also in Guatemala, Honduras, and the US State of New Mexico.

Symphoricarpos vaccinioides is a North American species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family. It had been found in western Canada and in the western United States.

Symphoricarpos parishii, or Parish's snowberry, is a North American species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family. It had been found in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Baja California.

References

  1. ↑ "Genus: Symphoricarpos Duhamel". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 1998-09-18. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
  2. ↑ "Symphoricarpos". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved 2011-09-13.
  3. ↑ Jones, George Neville (1940). ""A monograph of the genus Symphoricarpos."". Journal of the Arnold Arboretum. 21(2):201-252.
  4. ↑ Everett, Thomas H. (1982). The New York Botanical Garden Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture. Taylor & Francis. p. 3271. ISBN   978-0-8240-7240-7.
  5. 1 2 3 "Symphoricarpos". Plants For A Future.
  6. ↑ Favorite, Jammie (April 2008). "Plant fact sheet for snowberry" (PDF).
  7. ↑ "The Plant List, search for Symphoricarpos". www.theplantlist.org. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
  8. 1 2 "Snowberry". Precious Prairie Plants. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  9. 1 2 Scasta, John Derek; Engle, David M.; Harr, Ryan N.; Debinski, Diane M. (2014-12-24). "Fire induced reproductive mechanisms of a Symphoricarpos (Caprifoliaceae) shrub after dormant season burning". Botanical Studies. 55 (1): 80. Bibcode:2014BotSt..55...80S. doi: 10.1186/s40529-014-0080-4 . ISSN   1999-3110. PMC   5432769 . PMID   28510959.
  10. ↑ Resources, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural. "Waterwise Plants". mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. 1 2 3 Savage, G. P. (2016), "Saponins☆", in Caballero, Benjamin; Finglas, Paul M.; Toldrá, Fidel (eds.), Encyclopedia of Food and Health, Oxford: Academic Press, pp. 714–716, doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-384947-2.00610-3, ISBN   978-0-12-384953-3
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Moerman, Daniel E. (1998). Native American ethnobotany. Portland, Oregon: Timber Press. ISBN   0-88192-453-9. OCLC   38002531.
  13. ↑ Favorite, Jammie (2008). "Plant fact sheet for snowberry [Aymphoricarpos albus (L.) Blake.]" (PDF).
  14. ↑ Barrett 1, Gifford 2, S.A. 1, E.W. 2 (1933). "Miwok Material Culture: Indian Life of the Yosemite Region (1933)".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ "Common Snowberry, Symphoricarpos albus". nativeplantspnw.com. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  16. ↑ "Out and About in Laois". Laois People. 2017-08-16. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
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