Symphoricarpus
(from symphoreo, to bear together, and karpos, fruit; in allusion to the clusters of berries). St. Peter's Wort; Snowberry-tree. SYN. Symphoria. ORD. Caprifoliaceae. A genus comprising about half-a-dozen species of handsome, dwarf, hardy, deciduous shrubs, natives of North America and the mountains of Mexico. Flowers white or pink, small, disposed in short, axillary racemes or spikes; calyx tube sub-globose, the limb somewhat irregularly four or five-toothed; corolla funnel-shaped or campanulate, the limb four or five-lobed; stamens four or five. Drupes white or red, baccate, ovoid or globose, fleshy, four-stoned. Leaves opposite, shortly petiolate, ovate, entire or, on young plants, sinuate-toothed. Four of the species have been introduced. They are of very simple culture in ordinary garden soil, and may be readily increased by suckers, which are thrown up in abundance. The flowers of S. racemosus are much sought after by bees; and its fruits form excellent food for game.
S. microphylius (small-leaved). fl. white, axillary, solitary. August. l. roundish-ovate, slightly obtuse, pubescent. h. 4ft. Mexico, 1829. (B. M. 4975.) SYN. S. montanus (B. i. 20).
S. montanus (mountain-loving). A synonym of S. microphyllus. S. occidentalis (Western).* Wolf Berry. fl. white, tinged with rose-colour, larger and more funnel-shaped than in S. racemosus, in dense, terminal and axillary spikes; corolla much bearded within; stamens and style protruded. Summer. fr. white. l. oval, shortly petiolate, downy beneath, entire, or wavy-toothed or lobed on the young shoots. North America. S. racemosus (racemose-flowered).* Common Snow Berry. fl. rose-coloured, in loose and somewhat leafy, interrupted spikes at the ends of the branches; corolla bearded inside. July to September. fr. white, large, persistent through a great part of the winter. l. glaucous beneath. h. 4ft. to 6ft. North America, 1817. (B. M. 2211 and L. B. C. 230, under name of Symphoria racemosus.) S. r. pauciflorus (few-flowered). fl., spike reduced to one or two flowers in the axils of the uppermost leaves. l. about 1in. long. S. vulgaris (common). Coral Berry; Indian Currant; Common St. John's Wort. fl. red and yellow, small, in small, close clusters in the axils of all the leaves; corolla sparingly bearded. July to September. fr. dark red, the size of hemp-seed. l. elliptic-ovate, obtuse, glaucous, pubescent beneath. h. 3ft. to 6ft. North America, 1730. In the form foliis variegatis the leaves are finely variegated with green and yellow.