Viburnum
Viburnum opulus fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Dipsacales Family: Adoxaceae Genus: Viburnum
Species
SEE TEXT

Viburnum tinus, an evergreen species from the Mediterranean

Viburnum lentago in flower

Viburnum carlesii in flower

Viburnum lantana with immature fruit

Viburnum plicatum 'Mariesii', a cultivar with large sterile outer flowers

Viburnum × bodnantense flowers

A fossil Viburnum lesquereuxii leaf with insect damage; Dakota Sandstone (Cretaceous) of Ellsworth County, Kansas. Scale bar is 10 mm.

Viburnum (Viburnum) is a genus of about 150-175 species of shrubs or (in a few species) small trees that were previously included in the family Caprifoliaceae. Genetic tests by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group showed however that they are correctly classified in the family Adoxaceae.¹

They are native throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with a few species extending into tropical montane regions in South America and southeast Asia. In Africa, the genus is confined to the Atlas Mountains.

The leaves are opposite, simple, and entire, toothed or lobed; cool temperate species are deciduous, while most of the warm temperate species are evergreen. Some species are densely hairy on the shoots and leaves, with star-shaped hairs.

The flowers are produced in corymbs 5-15 cm across, each flower white to cream or pink, small, 3-5 mm across, with five petals, strongly fragrant in some species. The gynoecium has 3 connate carpels with the nectary on top of the gynoecium. Some species also have a fringe of large, showy sterile flowers round the perimeter of the corymb to act as a pollinator target.

The fruit is a spherical, oval or somewhat flattened drupe, red to purple, blue, or black, and containing a single seed; some are edible for humans (though many others are mildly poisonous to people). The leaves are sometimes eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species - see list of Lepidoptera that feed on Viburnum.

Species

About 150 species are known, including the following:

Cultivation and uses

Many species of viburnum have become popular as garden or landscape plants because of their showy flowers and berries, fragrance, and good autumn colour of some forms. Some popular species, hybrids, and cultivars include:²

• The hybrid Viburnum × bodnantense (V. farreri × V. grandiflorum) is particularly popular for its strongly scented pink flowers on the leafless deciduous shoots in mid to late winter.
• Viburnum × burkwoodii (V. carlesii × V. utile)
• Viburnum × carlcephallum (V. carlesii × V. macrocephalum)
• Viburnum carlesii has flowers that look somewhat like snowballs, excellent fragrance, dense structure, and reddish leaves in autumn.
• Viburnum davidii is an evergreen species from China with blue fruit.
• Viburnum dentatum has flat-topped flowers, bluish fruit, and reddish leaves in autumn. It is somewhat salt tolerant. The cultivar 'Blue Muffin' is more compact than the species and has fruit that are a deeper blue than the species.
• Viburnum dilatatum has flat-topped flowers, reddish leaves in autumn, and bright red fruit that persist into winter.
• Viburnum × juddii (V. bitchiuense × V. carlesii)
• Viburnum plicatum has white, snowball-like flowers, textured leaves, reddish-black fruit, and can grow quite large under ideal conditions. The species can tolerate shade, but not drought. The variety tomentosum has flat-topped flowers but is otherwise the same as the species.
• Viburnum × pragense (V. rhytidophyllum × V. utile)
• Viburnum × rhytidophylloides (V. lantana × V. rhytidophyllum)
• Viburnum rhytidophyllum is a popular evergreen species, grown mainly for its foliage effect of large, dark green leathery leaves with strongly wrinkled surface. This is the parent species of two popular hybrid cultivars known as 'Alleghany' and 'Pragense'. 'Alleghany' was selected from a hybrid between V. rhytidophyllum and V. lantana 'Mohican' (in 1958, at the US National Arboretum).
• Viburnum setigerum has upright, coarse structure and orange to reddish-orange fruit.
• Viburnum sieboldii has coarse, open structure, flat-topped flowers, reddish-black fruit, and can grow as a small tree.

Other uses

In prehistory, the long straight shoots of some viburnums were used for arrow-shafts, as those found with Ötzi the Iceman.

The fruit of some species (e.g. V. lentago³) are edible and can be eaten either raw or for making jam, while other species (e.g. V. opulus⁴) are mildly toxic and can cause vomiting if eaten in quantity.

The bark of some species is used in herbal medicine, as an anti-spasmodic and to treat asthma.⁴

References

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Viburnum