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Viburnum opulus

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.  

Cranberrybush Viburnum or Highbush Cranberry is a dense, arching, deciduous shrub six to ten feet (or even taller) native all across Canada and our northern states down as far as a couple of counties in West Virginia and Kentucky (not native in NC). In spring, there are beautiful, showy lace-cap flowers 3-4 inches across.The opposite, maple-like, three-lobed leaves turn wonderful shades of purple, orange and red in autumn. But the plant gets its common name from the berries, which are very similar to cranberries (true cranberries are in the genus Vaccinium) in being red and edible but sour. These bright, clear red berries (drupes), which occur in large numbers in Sept/Oct., can be made into a high-vitamin sauce. Both the flowers and the berries of Cranberrybush Viburnum are important to wildlife. Though densely branched, this shrub does not form thickets by spreading, and is not fussy about soils. According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Highbush Cranberry is listed as ‘endangered’ in Indiana, ‘threatened’ in Ohio, and ‘rare’ in Pennsylvania. There is also a European Viburnum opulus which is considered invasive in some states which has inedible, bitter fruit.

Key Info

Scientific Name: Viburnum opulus L. var. americanum Aiton syn. Viburnum trilobum Marshall
Common Names: Southern Arrowwood, American Cranberrybush Viburnum, Highbush Cranberry, Guelder Rose, Dog Rowan, Marsh Alder, Rose Elder, Red Elder, Water Elder, Dog Elder, Gatten Tree, Whitten Tree, Ople Tree, Snowball Tree, Crampbark
Family Names:
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Flower Color: White
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Additional Info

Habit: An upright, multistemmed shrub with an arching, spreading habit, rounding with age, with mediium to dense texture. The bark is gray, becoming rough and scaly with age.
Height: 8'-12'
Spread: 8'-12'
Soil Conditions: Wet to moist, well drained to dry when established; adaptable to a range of soil pH, tolerating alkaline soil; prefers loams with consistent moisture, but tolerates a wide range of soils.
Leaves: Opposite, simple, 3-lobed, ovate, lustrous, dark green, 2 to 5 inches long, coarsely dentate, maple-like with impressed venation. New leaves are reddish, leaves in fall are yellow to reddish-purple. Petiole has round, raised glands near base of leaf (a diagnostic character) and is grooved.
Flowers (or reproductive structures: In spring, large 3 to 4-inch, white, lacecap flower clusters (cymes) of tiny, self-fertile florets surrounded by larger, showy, sterile florets.
Fruit: Drooping clusters of nearly round, blue-black berries (drupes), 1/3 inch across, that turn bright red and juicy and quite acid, like a cranberry, as they mature in fall, becoming shrivelled after frost. The berries are edible fresh off the shrub, are sometimes used to make jams and jellies, and are reported to be much less bitter than those of the European V. opulus. The plant will produce fruit at about five years of age.
Natural Distribution: Commonly found in moist, low sites, swampy woods and fields, lake margins and bogs, but tolerates well drained or even dry conditions.
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3 to 7
USDA Wetland Indicator Status in NC: Not available
Pollination: Both wind and insects.
Wildlife Connections: Long lasting berries provide an excellent winter food source for birds; dense branching habit provides good nesting sites.
Propagation: By cuttings in spring and by seeds.