Common Name: desert snowberry

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Shrub

General: Deciduous erect or arching shrub, 0.5-1 m (1.6-3 ft) tall; young twigs glabrous to sparsely hairy, persisting so that plant appears thorny with age.

Leaves: Opposite, simple, lanceolate to oblanceolate or oval, 0.6-1.5 cm long, the surfaces pale green or glaucous, slightly pubescent to glabrous, margins entire; petiole 1-2 mm long.

Flowers: Paired or solitary in leaf axils, sometimes in small racemes; calyx 1 mm long, 5-lobed; corolla salverform, 0.9-1.3 cm long, 5-lobed, the lobes much shorter than the tube, pale to deep pink, glabrous throughout; anthers sessile; very fragrant.

Fruits: Berry-like drupe, ellipsoid, 8-10 mm long, white.

Ecology: Found on foothills, canyons, pine forests, common in xeric habitats from 3,000-9,500 ft (914-2896 m), flowers April-August.

Distribution: Coconino and Mohave counties; Canada, western U.S.

Notes: This species of snowberry is adapted to drier sites than most other species. It establishes from seed and cuttings and is useful for erosion control. The foliage is browsed by deer and the fruits are eaten by pheasants, quail, and grouse.

Ethnobotany: The Paiute use this plant for stomach pains or indigestion.

Editor: Springer et al. 2011