Symphoricarpos oreophilus A. Gray

vernacular mountain snowberry — species · Caprifoliaceae

USDA: SYOR2
GBIF: 2888644
Rank: species

mountain snowberry (Symphoricarpos oreophilus) — Platephotograph · Dena Cohen source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & 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

§2b

County-level range

· 9 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 9 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§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: Low
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -33 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 100 min.
Precipitation: 12–40 in/yr
pH range: 5.2–7.5
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: medium, fine

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Rhizomatous
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Long
Mature height: 5 ft
Height @ 20 y: 5 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Porous
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: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 54,738
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Graze palatability: Medium
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Medium
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 9 counties across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 9 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SYOR2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2888644 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z