Shrub 1 - 2 m tall Leaves: opposite, stalked, 6 - 12 cm long, somewhat orbicular to egg-shaped with a rounded to heart-shaped base and pointed lobes, three-lobed, maple-like, coarsely toothed, palmately veined, slightly hairy above, finely hairy beneath with black dots. Leaf stalks 1 - 2 cm long, finely hairy. Leaves turning reddish purple in autumn. Flowers: in branched clusters (cymes). Cymes mostly seven-rayed, long-stalked, flat-topped, 3 - 5 cm wide, finely hairy. Corolla five-lobed, white, 4 - 5 mm wide. Stamens five, white, exserted from the corolla. Filaments 3 - 4 mm long. Stigma three-lobed. Fruit: berry-like (drupe), in clusters, purplish black, to 8 mm wide, roundish, single-seeded. Twigs: slender, finely hairy when young.

Similar species: The variety ovatum differs by having egg-shaped leaves with remotely toothed margins. Viburnum opulus is also similar but has hairless branchlets, red mature drupes, and it lacks dots on the leaf undersides.

Flowering: late May to early July

Habitat and ecology: Occasional in wet to dry woods, dune slopes, and swamps.

Occurence in the Chicago region: native

Notes: About 200 species of Viburnum occur between North America, Europe and Asia. Many are ornamental shrubs cultivated for their showy flowers, autumn foliage, and attraction to wildlife.

Etymology: Viburnum is the Latin word for the Wayfaring tree. Acerifolium means "with leaves like a maple tree."

Author: The Morton Arboretum

From Flora of Indiana (1940) by Charles C. Deam

In dry woods in all parts of the state although ther are neither records nor specimens from 10 of the southwestern counties. It is usually a shrub from 2-5 feet high but I measured a specimen in St. Joseph County that was 7 feet high. [Forma ovatum] is one with leaves ovate, remotely dentate, and subcordate. I found it in a white oak woods about 2 miles east of Grayford in Jennings County.

Indiana Coefficient of Conservatism: C = 8

Wetland Indicator Status: UPL

Shrub 1-2 m; young stems, petioles, lower lf-surfaces and infl finely stellate; petioles 1-2 cm; lvs maple-like, palmately veined, shallowly 3- lobed (rarely lobeless), 6-12 cm, coarsely toothed, basally rounded to subcordate; cymes 3-5 cm wide, mostly 7-rayed, on peduncles 3-5 cm; cor 4-5 mm wide; filaments 3-4 mm; fr purple-black, ellipsoid or subglobose, 8 mm; stone lenticular, with 3 shallow grooves on one side, 2 on the other; 2n=18. Moist or dry woods; Que. and N.B. to Minn., s. to Fla. and La. May, June.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.