American Viburnum is a shrub found in wet woods, along streams, and on moist wooded hillsides of northern USA and Canada. It is not native to NC and will not like hot humid summers though it may grow in the cooler mountain areas. The shrub will reach 8-12 feet tall and wide with erect spreading and arching stems. The clusters of white flowers appear in spring and are followed by edible red drupes that resemble cranberries and mature in Aug-Sept. This shrub has hybridized with the European Viburnum opulus and has escaped cultivation and become weedy in some areas which may result in the gradual degradation or loss of the native genotype. The best way to tell them apart is by the petiolar glands at the base of the leaf. The native ones are variously described as convex (bulging outward), club-shaped, or columnar. Also, the fruit of the native plant is edible, and that of the European variety is not. American Viburnum prefers wet to moist well-drained soils in full sun to partial shade. It is tolerant of various soil types and is easy to grow. Give it some compost or fertilizer in the spring for best blooming and fruiting. Use as an ornamental shrub for the flowers and fall interest of the fruits in hedges, foundation plantings or as a specimen. It will do well along the margins of ponds and streams. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: Generally free from insect and disease damage in cultivation but bacterial leaf spot, powdery mildew, shoot blight, tarnished plant bugs, stem borers, and thrips will occasionally be a problem. The Clemson Cooperative Extension Home and Garden Information Center has a factsheet on common pests and diseases. More information on Viburnum opulus .
Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds
whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.
No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.
Also noted by NC State
Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell
apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Clay; High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt); Sand
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist
Available space
6-feet-12 feet; 12-24 feet
NC region
Mountains
Mature size
Height: 8 ft. 0 in. - 12 ft. 0 in. | Width: 8 ft. 0 in. - 12 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Medium
Maintenance
Low
Canopy layer
3 - Shrub (3-15 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Arching; Erect; Spreading
Texture
Medium
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Opposite
Leaf shape
Ovate
Leaf margin
Serrate
Leaf size
3-6 inches long, 1-3 inches wide
Hairs present
Yes
Leaf detail
Opposite leaves are ovate, 2-4.5 inches long, 3 deep lobes with pointed tips and the middle lobe sometimes elongated. Margins coarsely toothed. 1 to 6 small glands, on short stalks, near the base of the blade on the grooved reddish-brown stalk. Dark green above, soft hairs on veins below. Fall color is yellow-red or reddish-purple.
Fall color
Gold/Yellow; Purple/Lavender; Red/Burgundy
Flower color
White
Flower value
Showy
Flower form
Cyme
Flower shape
Star
Flower size
< 1 inch
Flower detail
Flowers are white, in flat-topped clusters 2.5-4 inches broad, with flowers of two different types. Outer ring flowers are sterile and showy. The inner flowers much smaller, fertile, with yellow anthers. Blooms May-July
Bloom time
Spring
Fruit color
Red/Burgundy
Fruit type
Drupe
Fruit value
Edible; Showy
Fruit size
< 1 inch long, < 1 inch wide
Fruit detail
Fruit is a berry-like rounded drupe, bright red with a single seed and strongly flattened. Matures Aug.-Sept.
Bark color
Dark Brown; Dark Gray
Bark detail
Older bark is gray to gray-brown, thin, and smooth to scaly.
Stem color
Brown/Copper; Gray/Silver; Green; Red/Burgundy
Stem detail
Green to reddish new twigs are mostly hairless with raised lenticels, turning tan to grayish brown.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Native
Origin
North America
Distribution
CT , IA , ID , IL , IN , KY , MA , ME , MI , MN , MO , MT , ND , NE , NH , NJ , NY , OH , PA , RI , SD , VT , WA , WI , WV , WY Canada: AB , BC , MB , NB , NS , PE , QC , SK
Wildlife value
Fruits are eaten deer, moose, foxes, raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, skunks, mice, rabbits, grouse, pheasants, robins, cedar waxwings, and other songbirds. They are not normally eaten by birds until after they have frozen and thawed several times.
Attracts
Pollinators; Small Mammals; Songbirds
Play value
Wildlife Food Source
Food & Medicine
Edible parts
Fruit
Harvest time
Fall
Fruit type
Drupe
Edibility
Fruits are edible and used in used in sauces, jellies, and juices.
Uses (ethnobotany)
Used medicinally as an antispasmodic, for relief of menstrual and stomach cramps and asthma.