Index / Search / Symphoricarpos occidentalis
§1 Plant — species · Caprifoliaceae
Symphoricarpos occidentalis Hook.
vernacular western snowberry
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Shrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Caprifoliaceae Juss.
- Genus
- Symphoricarpos
§2a
Native status, by region
- CAN Canada Native
- L48 Lower 48 States Native
§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- High
- Shade
- Medium
- Moisture use
- Low
- Fire
- High
- Salinity
- Low
- Anaerobic
- None
- CaCO₃
- High
- Hedging
- None
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -36 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 110 min.
- Precipitation
- 12–45 in/yr
- pH range
- 6.6–8
- Root depth
- 18 in min.
- Fertility need
- Medium
- Soil texture
- medium
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Thicket Forming
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Mature height
- 3 ft
- Height @ 20 y
- 3 ft
- Foliage texture
- Medium
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Dense
- Porosity (winter)
- Moderate
- Flower colour
- White
- Fruit colour
- White
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- None
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Seed abundance
- Medium
- Seed begins
- Summer
- Seed ends
- Fall
- Spread rate
- Slow
- Stratify
- Yes
- Seeds / lb
- 75,033
- Propagation
- seed, cuttings, bare root, container
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Routinely Available
- Nursery stock
- Yes
- Browse palatability
- High
- Graze palatability
- Low
- Palatable, human
- No
- Protein potential
- Low
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Montana distribution
Recorded in 43 of 56 Montana counties.
Native · 43 counties
- Beaverhead 30001
- Big Horn 30003
- Blaine 30005
- Broadwater 30007
- Carbon 30009
- Carter 30011
- Chouteau 30015
- Custer 30017
- Daniels 30019
- Dawson 30021
- Fallon 30025
- Fergus 30027
- Flathead 30029
- Gallatin 30031
- Garfield 30033
- Glacier 30035
- Golden Valley 30037
- Hill 30041
- Jefferson 30043
- Judith Basin 30045
- Lewis and Clark 30049
- Liberty 30051
- Lincoln 30053
- Madison 30057
- McCone 30055
- Missoula 30063
- Park 30067
- Petroleum 30069
- Phillips 30071
- Powder River 30075
- Prairie 30079
- Ravalli 30081
- Richland 30083
- Roosevelt 30085
- Rosebud 30087
- Sanders 30089
- Sheridan 30091
- Stillwater 30095
- Teton 30099
- Toole 30101
- Valley 30105
- Wibaux 30109
- Yellowstone 30111
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/SYOC ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/2888632 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25
fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z