Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle Family)

Represented here by shrubs, most with opposite leaves and branches. Fruit is a berry.

Sambucus caeruleaRaf. Blue Elderberry. (Plate 6.60) A large shrub, 4–8 ft (1–2 dm) high, the branches brittle with a large core of pith. Leaves are large, with five to nine leaflets. These are finely toothed, mostly 2–4 in (5–10 cm) long, oblong, and with one side shorter than the other at the base. The inflorescence is a flat-topped cyme, usually about 6 in (15 cm) across. Flowers are small, 1/4 in (6 mm) or less

wide, five-lobed. Fruit is a round berry, nearly black with a white bloom, appearing bluish. Flower: Creamy white.

Distribution. Open, not too dry slopes and washes; mostly in the White Mountains, Pinyon-juniper Woodland and Subalpine Zone, 7,000–10,000 ft (2,134–3,049 m).

Symphoricarpos longiflorusGray. Desert Snowberry. (Plate 6.61) A spreading shrub with slender branches up to 4 ft (1.2 m) high. Leaves are simple and elliptical, mostly less than 1/2 in (13 mm) long. The dainty flowers are in the upper axils. The corolla is about 1/2 in (13 mm) long, slender and tubular, abruptly flaring to short lobes. Fruit is an elongated white berry, slightly shorter than the flower. Flower: Rose-pink or lavender to paler shades.

Distribution. Rocky places, usually on limestone; Desert Scrub to Subalpine Zone, 5,000–9,700 ft (1,524–2,957 m).