Upright, multi-branching, spreading shrubs reach 2–6 feet tall (60–180 cm) with shredding bark and opposite, oval leaves. Note the clusters of small, pink, bell-shaped flowers, and the snow-white berries.

FLOWERS: May–July. Clusters on branch tips and in leaf axils have 2–10 broadly bell-shaped flowers with 5 round-tipped petal-lobes shorter or equal to the floral tube; stamens held within floral tube and lobes. Fruit is a white, round drupe 3/16–9/16 inch diameter (5–15 mm); toxic to animals so often on plant throughout winter.

LEAVES: Opposite, short stalked. Blades elliptic to round, 3/8–1 inch long (1–3 cm); edges entire, occasionally with few teeth; upper surface hairless, dark green to blue-green, lower paler, hairless to sparsely hairy.

HABITAT: Moist to dry forests, open slopes, canyons; foothills, mixed conifer montane forests.

ELEVATION: 5,350–8,200 feet (1630–2500 m).

RANGE: CA, CO, ID, MT, NM, OR, WA, WY; northern tier of states through New England, Canada.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Roundleaf Snowberry, S. rotundifolius, has trumpet-shaped flowers with the tube longer than the petal-lobes.

NM COUNTIES: Mountain chains across northern and central NM in mid-elevation habitats: Bernalillo, Catron, Colfax, Lincoln, Rio Arriba, San Juan, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Union.