Gaultheria hispidula (L.) Muhl. ex Bigelow
creeping-snowberry (creeping snowberry)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
creeping-snowberry (creeping snowberry)
Ericaceae (Crowberry family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Creeping shrub, stems slender, 10-40 cm long; brownish, appressed, forward-pointing bristly hairs on the stems, calyces, and lower surfaces of the leaves.
Leaves:
Alternate, evergreen, leathery, elliptic to egg-shaped, 4-10 mm long, entire, margins rolled under, appressed-bristly beneath; stalks 1.5-2.5 mm long.
Flowers:
Few, solitary in leaf axils, on short nodding flower stalks, subtended by 2 egg-shaped bracts; corollas white or pinkish, bell-shaped, deeply 4-lobed, about 2 mm long; calyces bell-shaped, deeply 4-parted; stamens 8, filaments flattened, shorter than the anthers; anthers each with 2 very short terminal awns, opening by 2 large lateral pores.
Fruits:
Berries, clear white, 3-5 mm wide, bristly-hairy, surrounded by the calyx, juicy with a mild wintergreen flavour and aroma.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
White
Blooming Period:
Mid Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Red
Present from Summer to Fall
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Gaultheria hispidula
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
976 | 10 | 2195 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
5 | 0 | 80 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
312 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
5 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
683 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
SBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BWBS(18), ESSF(49), ICH(145), IDF(8), IMA(1), MH(1), MS(43), SBPS(25), SBS(369), SWB(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to wet coniferous forests and bogs in the montane zone; frequent in S and C BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, rare northward; E to NF, and S to N ID, MN, PA, and NC.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Chiogenes hispidula (L.) Torr. & A. Gray
Taxonomic Keys
KEY TO GAULTHERIA
1. Leaves less than 1 cm long, bristly beneath, with margins rolled under; flowers less than 3 mm long, parts in 4's; fruit white..........................G. hispidula |