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West Virginia Trees

Chapter 130: SWEET VIBURNUM
By A. B. Brooks
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Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

A practical field guide to the native and introduced trees of West Virginia, providing keys based mainly on leaves and fruits, concise family and species descriptions, and detailed line drawings for about 101 native species. It organizes trees by botanical families, gives brief flower notes, a glossary of terms, and suggestions for identifying specimens; occasional introduced species and shrubs are noted. The bulletin emphasizes simplicity for non-specialists, offers measurements and habit descriptions for each species, and includes administrative prefatory material. Its aim is to aid lay readers and students in tree identification and to encourage local interest in forestry.

SWEET VIBURNUM

Viburnum lentago, L.

Form.—A shrub or small tree sometimes 15-25 feet high; trunk short and crown round-topped.

Leaves.—Opposite, simple 2½ inches long, ovate, long, abruptly taper-pointed, finely and sharply serrate; petioles winged.

Flowers.—May-June; perfect; small, white, in large many-flowered cymes which are usually 3-5 inches broad.

Fruit.—Black, ovoid, or ellipsoid drupe, which is sweet and juicy and contains a flat, oval, stone; borne on reddish stalks in often drooping clusters.

Bark.—On old trunks roughened by thin scales; reddish-brown.

Wood.—Heavy, hard, yellow-brown, with a disagreeable odor.

Range.—Quebec and Manitoba southward to Georgia and Missouri.

Distribution in West Virginia.—Found in Tucker and Grant counties and reported from Randolph County.

Habitat.—Banks of streams and in swamps.

Notes.—This Viburnum can be most easily distinguished by its leaves which are very finely serrate and are abruptly tapered into long slender points. Its flowers, fruit and foliage make it very desirable as an ornamental tree. Sheep-berry and Nanny-berry are also common names by which the species is known.