Common Snowberry vs Northern Black Currant - TreeTime.ca

Common Snowberry vs Northern Black Currant

Symphoricarpos albus

Ribes hudsonianum

CUSTOM GROW

Common Snowberry
Northern Black Currant

Common Snowberry is a small deciduous shrub with characteristic white to pink flowers and clusters of white fruit.

This North American native species is very adaptable, and can be used for erosion control in riparian and restoration areas. Snowberry's fruit attracts wildlife, and livestock can consume the berries without issue.

Northern Black Currant is a native deciduous shrub found across Canada and the northern United States. Dark purple to black berries that ripen in summer and provide food for wildlife and humans. Fragrant yellow-green flowers that attract a wide variety of pollinators.

This shrub is well adapted to moist soils and can even survive periods of flooding. It has an interesting bronze colour in fall.

Common Snowberry Quick Facts

Northern Black Currant Quick Facts

Lowest Price: $12.99
Zone: 1a
Zone: 3a
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: dry, normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Growth form: upright to prostrate, thicket-forming
Spreading: seeds - low, layering - low
Suckering: none
Maintenance: medium

Toxicity: berries toxic to humans

Bark: red-brown shredded bark
Flowers: pink to white flowers in spring
Flowers: small white, in clusters
Bloom time: spring to early summer
Berries: white waxy berries
Berries: black, edible
Flavor: bitter
Harvest: mid to late summer
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NT
Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, YT, NT
Other Names: common snowberry
Other Names: hudson bay currant, stinking currant, western black currant, wild black currant