Snowberry and the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Photo: Creative Commons/H. Zell 868

The men of the Expedition were eager to find the Shoshone Indians in mid-August 1805. But while they searched for the Native people, Captain Lewis noticed near Pattee Creek “a species of honeysuckle much in it’s growth and leaf like the small honeysuckle of the Missouri only reather larger and bears a globular berry as large as a garden pea and as white as was.”

New to the scientific community, this would be known as the Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus). Lewis was correct that it is a member of the honeysuckle family. The berries, while not poisonous, are mealy and tasteless, so are not of value to humans, but some birds thrive on them.

Lewis collected a specimen of the snowberry bush from the banks of the creek and a few seeds were sent back to Philadelphia and turned over to Bernard McMahon, who planted them, and in October 1812 a few cuttings were sent to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson wrote to McMahon saying most of the cuttings were thriving in his garden and showing “some of the most beautiful berries I have ever seen.”