Search Wild Foods Home Garden & Nature's Restaurant Websites:

(NOTE: If you are not interested in growing the Creeping Snowberry, but just finding the berries and using it, try going to the Nature's Restaurant Online site Creeping Snowberry page.)

Creeping Snowberry or Moxie-Plum (Gaultheria hispidula). Do not confuse this plant with the poisonous "Snowberry" (Symphoricarpos), specifically the Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) which has fruit that looks very similar. The Creeping Snowberry is a ground level type plant properly called a prostrate shrub. Most people refer plants like this as "ground-cover" plants. If it is not within 10 cm (4 inches) of the ground, it is not the edible Creeping Snowberry. The fruit of the edible Creeping Snowberry is shaped like a small white egg, while the not edible Common Snowberry is more spherical.

Is the growing of this plant compatible with Natural farming, Ecoagriculture or Eco friendly agriculture, Ecological farming, Sustainable agriculture, Agroforestry or Agro-sylviculture and Permaculture: The perennial is a perfect fit for the Natural farming, no-till garden method. Once established, there is no need to disturb the soil.

This plant spreads by the roots and should take to transplanting without much trouble. Most plants that spread by roots transplant quite well. If you have the right habitat this would be a nice plant to have. A bonus - the plant is an evergreen. The likes the same conditions as the Wintergreen, so refer to that section on growing and transplanting. The only difference is this plant can live in soil that is acidic to slightly acidic, not just acidic like the Wintergreen, so if your soil is slightly acidic, this one would be a better choice.

The fruit of this plant has a Wintergreen taste, which is not surprising as it is a close relative of the Wintergreen plant. Easy to think of this as the white berry Wintergreen. You will never get a lot of food from this plant, but if you have an area of your property in the shade, and you wanted an evergreen ground cover, this makes a good choice and provides a few berries as a bonus.

Description:

• USDA Plant Hardiness Zone: 3-8 (More information on hardiness zones).
• Soil pH: 4.0-6.5
• Plant Size: prostrate shrub 10 cm (4 inches) high, 1 meter (3 feet) diameter
• Duration: Evergreen Perennial
• Leaf Shape: Ovate
• Leaf Phyllotaxis (Arrangement) on branch: Alternate
• Leaf Size: 1 cm or under (2/5 inch) long
• Leaf Margin: Entire (smooth edged) with tiny reddish hairs coming from leaf margin
• Leaf Notes: Wintergreen smell, dark to yellow-green, often curled back (not folded along central vein) so tip of leaf is folding back making upper side of leaf arced, leaves on plant year round
• Flowers: Light greenish white, springtime
• Fruit: Look like little white eggs, ripe in fall, with acidic taste and wintergreen quality, fruit is as big or even bigger than the biggest leaf on the plant
• Bark: Branches have a reddish or green color with reddish hairs
• Habitat: Acidic to neutral soil, open woods in damp ground, often near wet areas and where there is decaying wood in or on the ground

Web Resources:

• Recipe search on the web here (Google search) and here (Bing search).
• Pictures of the Creeping Snowberry or Moxie-Plum (Gaultheria hispidula) on the web here (Google images) and here (Bing images).
• Interactive USDA distribution map and plant profile here.
• The Biota of North America Program (BONAP) distribution map here. BONAP map color key here.

Poisonous Look-Alike:

• Pictures of the POISONOUS Common Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) on the web here (Google images) and here (Bing images).
• Interactive USDA distribution map and plant profile here.
• The Biota of North America Program (BONAP) distribution map here. BONAP map color key here.

Search Wild Foods Home Garden & Nature's Restaurant Websites:

Share:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Why does this site have ads?

Originally the content in this site was a book that was sold through Amazon worldwide. However, I wanted the information to available to everyone free of charge, so I made this website. The ads on the site help cover the cost of maintaining the site and keeping it available.

Google + profile