{"id":5265,"date":"2018-12-16T10:03:10","date_gmt":"2018-12-16T10:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.reading.ac.uk\/crg\/?p=5265"},"modified":"2018-12-16T10:03:10","modified_gmt":"2018-12-16T10:03:10","slug":"adventbotany-2018-day-16-the-snowiest-of-white","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/herbarium\/2018\/12\/16\/adventbotany-2018-day-16-the-snowiest-of-white\/","title":{"rendered":"#AdventBotany 2018, Day 16: The snowiest of white"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tomos Jones<\/a><\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a>Dreaming of a white Christmas? Well, the plant for today\u2019s blog is Symphoricarpos albus<\/em>, the Snowberry. It\u2019s a member of the Caprifoliaceae or Honeysuckle family, native to North America. It was originally described in Linnaeus\u2019 Species Plantarum in 1753 as Vaccinium album<\/em> L. (Ericaceae). Since 1914 it has been referred to as Symphoricarpos albus<\/em> (L.) S.F. Blake. The generic name refers to the compact cluster of fruits. It derives from the Ancient Greek \u03c3\u03c5\u03bc\u03c6\u03bf\u03c1\u03b5\u1fd6\u03bd (sumphore\u00een), meaning \u2018to bear together\u2019, and \u03ba\u03b1\u03c1\u03c0\u03cc\u03c2 (karp\u00f3s) meaning fruit.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
1 – A cluster of Snowberries (T. Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although the pink flowers are rather inconspicuous, its “slender branches are loaded with clusters of berries, of the snowiest white, throughout the autumn”. Its common name needs no explanation, once you see the distinctive fruits (fig.1). In Flora Britannica, Richard Mabey mentions how these are known also known as ‘Lardy balls’, as they resemble lard packed in pig’ bladders (a local custom perhaps).\u00a0 The inside of the fruits is also rather festive, beautifully resembling glistening snow (fig.2). The fruits can persist long into winter, which might suggest that they\u2019re not particularly tasty. In fact, they\u2019re poisonous to humans.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
2 – Inside the Snowberry (T. Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Snowberry was introduced into cultivation in Britain in 1817, originally as an ornamental and then also used for game-cover. The first record of it in the wild was 1863 in Oxfordshire (vice-county 23). It has since become widely naturalised in Britain and Ireland (fig. 3). Most of these plants are S. albus ssp. laevigatus. The Snowberry is actually one of our most common neophytes (plants introduced after 1500). That’s surprising, given that it is not known to set seed (much) in Britain and Ireland. Rather, it spreads vegetatively by rhizomes and suckers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
3 – Records of Snowberry since 2000 (BSBI, 2018)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Is it invasive? The Snowberry is listed as an RHS ‘thug’<\/a> (i.e. potentially nuisance plants) and it\u2019s recognised as invasive<\/em> in Alien Plants (Stace and Crawley, 2015). However, it\u2019s not currently listed in Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. It\u2019s the invasive potential of ornamentals such as this that I\u2019m looking at in my PhD research. You can help me find which ornamental plants might escape and become our future invaders by completing a short survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nadolig Llawen \u2013 Merry Christmas!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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