Symphoricarpos albus
snowberry [Blooms: Jul-Sep]
Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) flowers and fruit. Bottom right: clusters of flowers arising from the tip of a stem and from leaf axils. Top right: lateral views of several maturing buds and two open flowers of snowberry. Note the green, somewhat swollen, calyx and the pinkish, bell-shaped corolla. Top left: looking up into the bell of a snowberry flower. Note the stamens with white filaments and tan anthers and the white hairs occluding the space within the corolla. Bottom left: maturing berries (drupes) of snowberry. The largest, pure white, fruit is near-mature; the green-tinged fruits are in varying stages of maturation.
Elongated racemes or short clusters of flowers arise from snowberry’s leaf axils or the tips of shoots. Each flower is about 8 mm long and 6 mm across with a dull green, hairless, tubular calyx, swollen near the base, with five shallow teeth; a bell-shaped, light pink or whitish pink corolla with five triangular lobes; five short stamens attached to the petals with tan anthers at the tip of the filament; and a light green ovary with a single style. Neither stamens nor style extend past the margin of the corolla. Long white hairs crisscross the open space inside the corolla. The fruit is a drupe (a stone fruit, like a cherry) 8-16 mm in diameter, bright white, and more or less spherical at maturity with a pair of nutlets inside.
Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) stems and leaves. Top: a series of stems forming a canopy above the ground. Multiple pairs of bluish-green, opposite leaves are visible, as are clusters of snowberry fruits. Bottom: two stem leaves of snowberry. The upper image in each pair shows the upper surface of the leaf; the lower image shows the underside of the same leaf. Note the variation in leaf shape.
Snowberry is a native multi-stemmed shrub 1-5 feet tall and wide. Young shoots are light green or light tan, round in section but hollow. Young, woody branches have brown, smooth bark; older branches and stems are gray or brown with shredded bark. The leaves are opposite, 3/4-2.5″ long and 1/2-2″ wide, oval, usually with smooth margins, and with very short (1/4″) petioles. The upper surface of the leaf is distinctly bluish green while the lower surface is light green to nearly white; both surfaces lack hairs.
The tips of a number of snowberry’s (Symphoricarpos albus) arching stems with numerous clusters of the namesake white fruit growing on the southeast corner of Wooded Island. In the lower left corner is an enlarged image of several snowberry flowers; in the upper left corner is an enlarged image of a cluster of maturing fruits.
Snowberry is a native multi-stemmed shrub 1-5 feet tall and wide. Young shoots are light green or light tan, round in section but hollow. Young, woody branches have brown, smooth bark; older branches and stems are gray or brown with shredded bark. The leaves are opposite, 3/4-2.5″ long and 1/2-2″ wide, oval, usually with smooth margins, and with very short (1/4″) petioles. The upper surface of the leaf is distinctly bluish green while the lower surface is light green to nearly white; both surfaces lack hairs. Elongated racemes or short clusters arise from leaf axils or the tips of shoots. Each flower is about 8 mm long and 6 mm across with a dull green, hairless, tubular calyx, swollen near the base, with five shallow teeth; a bell-shaped, light pink or whitish pink corolla with five triangular lobes; five short stamens attached to the petals with tan anthers at the tip of the filament; and a light green ovary with a single style. Neither stamens nor style extend past the margin of the corolla. Long white hairs crisscross the open space inside the corolla. The fruit is a drupe (a stone fruit, like a cherry) 8-16 mm in diameter, bright white, and more or less spherical at maturity with a pair of nutlets inside.
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![Evening primrose — clusters of yellow flowers occur at the apex of the plant. The flowers are 1-2" across, with four 1/2-1" long green sepals strongly reflected over a long (3/4-2"), green, cylindrical floral tube (the ovary is located just above the leaf axil), four heart-shaped yellow petals, eight stamens, and a single style with an X-shaped stigma. The sepals typically remain connected (in pairs) along one edge until the flower opens. The seedpods develop within the ovary (the base of the elongate floral tube); they are hairy, urn-shaped with rounded edges, and have four or eight small lobes on the apex. The seeds are claimed to remain viable in the soil for up to 70 years. The flowers open at dusk and close early in the day. — — — There are (at least) three evening primroses in Jackson Park — common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis), northern evening primrose (Oenothera parviflora), and hairy evening primrose (Oenothera villosa). They are easily confused with each other. (Judging by the conflicts between the accounts on Illinois Wildflowers [https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/], Minnesota Wildflowers [https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/], and Missouri Plants [http://www.missouriplants.com/], even the experts are confused.) All three species have yellow flowers with an X-shaped stigma, reflected sepals, petals with a small notch in their apex, stems that may be red or green, and lance-shaped leaves with short, widely-spaced teeth. Northern evening primrose is distinguished by (1) the presence of a knob or ridge at the tip of each sepal which the other two species lack (2) a seed capsule with four robust, flaring lobes with rounded tips at the apex of the seed capsule, and (3) a stigma that is very robust and almost fills the opening of the flower. Northern evening primrose has green to yellowish-green sepals. Hairy evening primrose (often but not always) has (1) striped or reddish-tinged sepals (check the buds where this character is often easier to see), (2) flowers that turn orange as they begin to senesce (although the reliability of this character is uncertain), and (3) always has glandular hairs covering the ovary that have "pimple-like" bright-red bases; these red pimples may also occur on the stems. All three species are somewhat similar to prairie sundrop (O. pilosella); the latter has very hairy stems and leaves, and translucent lines that radiate from the base of the petals in the flowers.](https://jacksonparkwildflowers.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oenothera_biennis-1t-300x300.jpg)
![Northern evening primrose flowers are 3/4-1.5" across, have four yellow, heart-shaped petals, eight yellow stamens, and a cross-shaped stigma on a modest style; the stamens are as long or longer than the petals and the stigma is nearly fills the floral opening. At the base of the flower are four sepals 1/2-1" long, that bend back along the 3/4-1.5" long floral tube as the flower develops with pairs of sepals attached along one edge until the flower opens. Only northern evening primrose with a distinct ridge or knob near the tips of the sepals. The seed capsule develops from the ovary; it is 3/4-1.5" long, cylindrical but tapering slightly towards the tip, with four robust, flaring lobes at the tip. — — — There are (at least) three evening primroses in Jackson Park — common evening primrose (Oenothera biennis), northern evening primrose (Oenothera parviflora), and hairy evening primrose (Oenothera villosa). They are easily confused with each other. (Judging by the conflicts between the accounts on Illinois Wildflowers [https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/], Minnesota Wildflowers [https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/], and Missouri Plants [http://www.missouriplants.com/], even the experts are confused.) All three species have yellow flowers with an X-shaped stigma, reflected sepals, petals with a small notch in their apex, stems that may be red or green, and lance-shaped leaves with short, widely-spaced teeth. Northern evening primrose is distinguished by (1) the presence of a knob or ridge at the tip of each sepal which the other two species lack (2) a seed capsule with four robust, flaring lobes with rounded tips at the apex of the seed capsule, and (3) a stigma that is very robust and almost fills the opening of the flower. Northern evening primrose has green to yellowish-green sepals and is the only one of the three evening primroses to (sometimes) have reddish color on some or all of the midvein of the leaves. Hairy evening primrose (often but not always) has (1) striped or reddish-tinged sepals (check the buds where this character is often easier to see), (2) flowers that turn orange as they begin to senesce (although the reliability of this character is uncertain), and (3) always has glandular hairs covering the ovary that have "pimple-like" bright-red bases; these red pimples may also occur on the stems. All three species are somewhat similar to prairie sundrop (O. pilosella); the latter has very hairy stems and leaves, and translucent lines that radiate from the base of the petals in the flowers.](https://jacksonparkwildflowers.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Oenothera_parviflora-1t-300x300.jpg)
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