Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Dipsacales > Caprifoliaceae > Symphoricarpos > Symphoricarpos occidentalis

Symphoricarpos occidentalis (western snowberry; wolfberry)

Synonyms: Symphoria occidentalis (homotypic); Symphoricarpos heyeri; Symphoricarpos occidentalis var. heyeri; Symphoricarpos occidentalis var. quercifolia

Wikipedia Abstract

Symphoricarpos occidentalis, commonly called western snowberry or wolfberry, is a woody species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family. Wolfberry is not to be confused with the Lycium species of the same common name.
View Wikipedia Record: Symphoricarpos occidentalis

Attributes

Bloom Period [1]  Late Spring
Drought Tolerance [1]  High
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Fire Tolerance [1]  High
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Frost Free Days [1]  3 months 20 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [1]  Medium
Fruit/Seed Begin [1]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [1]  Fall
Growth Form [1]  Thicket Forming
Growth Period [1]  Spring
Growth Rate [1]  Moderate
Hazards [2]  No report of toxicity has been seen for this species but the fruit of many if not all members of this genus contains saponins. Although toxic, these substances are very poorly absorbed by the body and so tend to pass through without causing harm. They are also destroyed by thorough cooking. Saponins are found in many plants, including several that are often used for food, such as certain beans. It is advisable not to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins but it would take extremely large doses of many kilos of fruit from this plant in order to produce toxic symptoms; Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish;
Leaf Type [2]  Deciduous
Lifespan [1]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Bees
Propagation [1]  Bare Root, Container, Cutting, Seed
Root Depth [1]  18 inches (46 cm)
Seed Spread Rate [1]  Slow
Seed Vigor [1]  Low
Seeds Per [1]  75033 / lb (165419 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [1]  Semi-Erect
Structure [2]  Shrub
Usage [2]  Plants have extensive root systems and are used to stabilize soils on banks and slopes; The branches can be made into brooms; Very tolerant of trimming, it can be grown as a medium to tall hedge;
Vegetative Spread Rate [1]  Moderate
Flower Color [1]  White
Foliage Color [1]  Green
Fruit Color [1]  White
Fruit Conspicuous [1]  Yes
Height [2]  5.904 feet (1.8 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 3 Low Temperature: -40 F° (-40 C°) → -30 F° (-34.4 C°)
Light Preference [1]  Mixed Sun/Shade
Soil Acidity [1]  Neutral
Soil Fertility [1]  Intermediate
Water Use [1]  Low
Screening - Summer [1]  Dense
Screening - Winter [1]  Moderate
View Plants For A Future Record : Symphoricarpos occidentalis

Protected Areas

Predators

Antilocapra americana (pronghorn)[3]
Libytheana carinenta (Southern snout butterfly)[4]

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3Evaluating Diet Composition of Pronghorn in Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, CHRISTOPHER N. JACQUES, JARET D. SIEVERS, JONATHAN A. JENKS, CHAD L. SEXTON, and DANIEL E. RODDY, The Prairie Naturalist 38(4): December 2006, pp. 239-250
♦ 4HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0