Snowberry Bush Facts, Uses, Medicinal Benefits, Cultivation And More

The snowberry bush is a deciduous shrub that belongs to the honeysuckle family.

It goes by a lot of other names, like waxberry, white coralberry, or white, thin-leaved, and few-flowered snowberry. There are around 18 species of snowberry bush.

The western snowberry, mountain snowberry, and common snowberry are the most popular ones. It has oval leaves, white fruits, and bell-shaped flowers. The white berries and bright pink or white flowers produced by the snowberry bush are its most attractive traits.

It was one of the most popular ornamental plants in the 1890s. It is often spotted on the rocky slopes of open forests and streams. The snowberry bush species originated in North and Central America and Western China.

The berries and older shoots have medicinal properties. The fruit is not considered edible due to the presence of the isoquinoline alkaloid chelidonine and other alkaloids.

Topical usage has several benefits. Though it can reproduce through seeds, reproduction by releasing young shoots is more usual. Snowberry is also known by several other names, like common snowberry, waxberry, thin-leaved snowberry, northern snowberry, white coralberry, buckbrush, waxberry, ghost berry, and corpseberry.

This species has both male and female reproductive organs and reproduces by forming shoots. We have curated a bunch of interesting snowberry facts. Do not miss out on them.

Once you have finished this article, you can also check out our other articles on the palmetto tree and palm tree here at Kidadl.

Species Distinguishing Characteristics

The snowberry bush is an attractive shrub that has certain characteristics that will help identify the snowberry species.

There are 18 species of snowberry. Most of the snowberry species produce white berries. Other species produce pink or red berries. These berries are round and have an inner spongy flesh with two seeds.

The seeds are white or light brown and oblong. The fruits have a waxy outer coating. These plants also have white flowers with yellow centers or pink flowers with pink centers.

The flowers bloom in clusters and are bell-shaped. The snowberry bush has oval leaves. These thin leaves are present on either side of the yellow-brown twigs. They grow together in large patches.

Pruning and Caring for Snowberry

Pruning: The best time to prune your snowberry bush is in spring, especially if you are pruning to reduce its size or for rejuvenation. To avoid difficulties and pruning wounds, use clean pruning blades. Start by trimming the deadwood.

You can look for deadwood by bending the branches. The branches will shatter if they are dead. Once the deadwood is pruned, examine the plant thoroughly. Additional pruning can be done to attain the desired shape.

You can cut the branches up to 6 in (15.2 cm) from the ground. Like butterfly bushes, snowberry bushes will also quickly regenerate by growing fresh shoots from the cut areas. You can use the pruning waste for your compost pit.

Care: In order to avoid pests and other diseases and to provide adequate air circulation, place the shrubs in a large area, apart from each other. Until the seed sprouts, keep the soil wet. Though the snowberry bush does not require yearly fertilization, balanced fertilizer treatments will still benefit the shrubs.

Prune the shrub regularly to avoid leaf damage and eliminate diseases. Poor saps should be removed when they appear. If you suspect rabbit damage, consider installing a fence. Other rodents, like pocket gophers, harm the young shoots.

Snowberries are commonly found in swamps and open forests. This implies that the plant thrives in full sun or partial sunshade and moist regions. Plant your snowberries accordingly.

Traditional Uses and Benefits of Snowberry

Several Native Americans used the common snowberry for its medicinal values.

Crushed berries were also used by the Russians to make hand lotions.

Hunters used large quantities of berries to catch fish. Hunters blocked a small portion of the water and introduced crushed white berries into the region. Fish would feed on these berries, which would eventually suffocate and kill them due to their poisonous properties. This will bring the fish to the surface, making the job of hunters a cakewalk.

Arrowheads and brooms were made from the branches of the snowberry bush. Pipe stems were made from hollowed-out sticks. Since the shrub has foamy characteristics, it was used to make soaps.

It was also used as a digestive tonic after heavy meals. Animals like chipmunks, black bears, wild turkeys, ruffed grouse, and grizzly bears feed on the berries. The common snowberry shrub was one of the favorite foods of several ungulates, such as the white-tailed deer, elk, and bighorn sheep.

Native Americans used the pulpy flesh of snowberries to feed birds and other small mammals.

Cultivation & Medicinal Uses

Almost all parts of the plant have medicinal value. Fresh snowberries and older stems are known to have better results.

Crushed berries were applied to the skin to provide relief for rashes and sores. It was also used to heal warts and burns. Snowberry stems were used to make a tea that treated fevers and stomach disorders.

Common snowberry roots and chewed leaves have been used to cure stomach problems like diarrhoea, stomach ache and to treat sore eyes.

Venereal diseases were treated by using a decoction of the common snowberry root bark. It was also used to cure the inability to urinate, also known as dysuria, tuberculosis, and tooth sickness.

The berries and barks of this shrub were crushed and mixed together to make a salve. The salve, when used regularly, cures paralysis induced by nerve damage. This salve was also used to treat eczema, scrapes, and bruises.

The lower saponin concentration of the common snowberry shrub made it the ideal choice. High saponin concentrations can be life-threatening.

The snowberry bush has the right amount of saponin, which is used for its anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory properties. For centuries, the plant has been used as a laxative and disinfectant. The essence extracted by boiling the stem was used as a menstrual pain reliever.

Planting Snowberry Bushes

Snowberry shrubs are simple to cultivate. As they thrive in the sun or partial shade, you can plant them anywhere in your garden. The snowberry bush is an excellent plant for erosion control since it is suitable for different conditions.

Using the snowberry sucker is the simplest way to grow the plant. You can also use seeds.

However, this process requires a great deal of patience, as the germination process is quite long. Once you get the seeds, they have to be scarified (the process of cutting the seed coat). You can start by covering the seed with sand.

Dirt can be used to cover the seeds. Planting the seeds in a well-drained space that has heavy soils is important.

Water the soil to prevent it from drying out. For seed distribution, you can make use of a watering can.

Arrange the seed trays in an area with a temperature range of 750-800 F (398.8-426.6 C) for 90 days. When seeds are exposed to moisture and heat, the seed coat degrades.

You can induce winter conditions by transferring the seed tray to a cooler place where the temperature does not fall below 410 F (210 C) You may keep the seeds like this for the whole winter, which is around 180 days.

It is recommended that seedlings be overwintered during the first winter. In the spring, you may plant the seedlings outside in your garden.

Did you know? Snowberries are poisonous. The berries have saponins in them. However, it is not highly toxic to humans or pets, as the saponins are not absorbed by the body and can easily be broken down.

Depending on the species, the snowberry bush can be anywhere between 3-6 ft (0.9-1.8 m).

Snowberry seeds can even germinate after 10 years. The plant can even survive for 40 years in the wild.

This plant not only withstands seasonal fires but also benefits from them, as these fires induce reproduction and regeneration.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for snowberry bush facts, then why not take a look at facts about trees, or are palm trees native to California.