Symphoricarpos longiflorus
| Symphoricarpos longiflorus | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Dipsacales |
| Family: | Caprifoliaceae |
| Genus: | Symphoricarpos |
| Species: | S. longiflorus |
| Binomial name | |
| Symphoricarpos longiflorus A.Gray | |
Symphoricarpos longiflorus is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common names desert snowberry and fragrant snowberry. It is native to the western United States from the Great Basin to Texas, where it grows in rocky desert habitat, sagebrush, chaparral, forests, woodlands, and other habitat. It is most often found in dry habitat types.[1] It is an erect, spreading shrub with many stiff branches, reaching up to about a meter in maximum height. It is hairless to lightly hairy and sometimes glandular, and the branches may be lined with tiny spines. The bark is reddish and ages white and shreddy. The thick, fuzzy, green or blue-tinged leaves are generally lance-shaped, sometimes with rounded tips. They are usually no more than 2 centimeters long. The fragrant flowers occur singly or in pairs in leaf axils, or are borne in a small raceme. Each flower has a long, slender, tubular throat up to 1.5 centimeters long, and a spreading face with five pointed lobes. The tube is bright to pale pink or cream in color, and the face of the corolla may be lighter in tone. The fruit is a dry drupe under a centimeter wide which contains two seeds.