About Symphoricarpos longiflorus A.Gray
Symphoricarpos longiflorus A.Gray is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family, commonly called desert snowberry and fragrant snowberry. It is native to the western United States, ranging from the Great Basin to western Texas, and also grows in northwestern Mexico, specifically in Sonora, Chihuahua, and Baja California. This plant can be found growing in rocky desert habitat, sagebrush, chapararr, forests, woodlands, and other habitat types. It occurs most often in dry habitats.
This plant is an erect, spreading shrub with many stiff branches, and reaches up to around one meter, or 40 inches, in height. Its tissues range from hairless to lightly hairy, and are sometimes glandular; the branches may be lined with tiny spines. Young bark is reddish, and ages to become white and shreddy. The thick, fuzzy leaves are green or blue-tinged, generally lance-shaped, and sometimes have rounded tips. They are usually no longer than 2 centimeters (0.8 inches).
Its fragrant flowers grow singly, in pairs in leaf axils, or arranged in a small raceme. Each flower has a long, slender tubular throat that can be up to 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inch) long, and a spreading opening with five pointed lobes. The flower tube is bright to pale pink or cream in color, and the opening of the corolla may be a lighter shade. The fruit is a dry drupe less than one centimeter wide that contains two seeds.
