CREEPING SNOWBERRY

(Chiogenes hispidula) Huckleberry family



Flowers - Very small, white, few, solitary, nodding on short,

curved peduncles from the leaf axils. Calyx 2-bracted, 4-cleft;

corolla a short 4-cleft bell; 8 short stamens, each anther sac

opening by a slit to the middle; 1 pistil, the ovary 4-celled.

Stem: Creeping along the ground, the slender, leafy, hairy

branches 3 to 12 in. long. Leaves: Evergreen, alternate,

2-ranked, oval, very small, dark and glossy above, coated with

stiff, rusty hairs underneath, the edges curled. Fruit: A

snow-white, round or oval, mealy, aromatic berry; ripe

August-September.

Preferred Habitat - Cool bogs; low, moist, mossy woods.

Flowering Season - May-June.

Distribution - North Carolina and Michigan northward to the

British Possessions.



Allied on the one hand to the cranberry, so often found with it

in the cool northern peat bogs, and on the other to the delicious

blueberries, this "snow-born" berry, which appears on no dining

table, nevertheless furnishes many a good meal to hungry birds

and fagged pedestrians. Both the pretty foliage and the fruit

have the refreshing flavor of sweet birch.