Index / Search / Symphoricarpos oreophilus

§1 Plant

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

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
§2b

County-level range

· 88 counties across 7 states/territories
Legend Native · 88 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 88 counties across 7 states/territories.

Arizona view state ↗ 8 N
Colorado view state ↗ 2 N
Idaho view state ↗ 31 N
Montana view state ↗ 9 N
Nevada view state ↗ 17 N
New Mexico view state ↗ 20 N
Texas view state ↗ 1 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-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T12:10:33Z