NEN Gallery

Snowberry is an introduced, deciduous shrub, 1-3 m high. It was first introduced in 1817 for horticultural purposes and also planted for game cover. It has become well naturalized in some areas and is common in the hedgerows in mid Bedfordshire near Cople where this was pictured. It spreads by suckers and forms large thickets in woodlands and hedgerows. Its leaves are thin, oval, usually 2-4 cm long. It produces small, pink, bell-shaped, 5-petalled flowers (5-6 mm across). They are arranged in spikes of 3-7 at the tips of branches and open from June to September. In autumn it produces white, globe-shaped berries 10-15 mm across, the berries last well into winter. The berries are not very attractive to birds, so the plant does not spread rapidly. The leaves are food for the caterpillars of Death's-head Hawk-moths. Pictured mid December 2005