Sweet viburnum

Leaves

Form

• Ovate to narrowly oval
• Tip slender, sharp, short-tapered
• Base rounded, hairless
• Stalk grooved, winged along each side by narrow extensions of leaf blade

Length

• 5–10 cm

Colour

• Upper surface yellowish-green
• Lower surface has tiny dark brown dots

Autumn colour

• Reddish orange

Margin

• Finely and sharply toothed   

Petiole

• 1–2 cm long

Buds

Form

• Terminal bud present, slender
• Naked, with a pair of immature leaves
• Terminal flower bud with a bulbous base
• Lateral buds smaller

Length

• Terminal bud 20–30 mm
• Terminal flower bud about twice as long 

Colour

• Brownish-grey

Twigs

Form

• Slender, smooth
• Unpleasant odour when bruised

Colour

• Light brown

Flowers

Form

In round-topped clusters (compound cymes)
Several branches radiating from shoot tip

Width

• 5–10 cm

Colour

• Creamy white

Structure

• Synoecious

Fruits

Form

• Flesh thin, sweet, edible 

Length

• 8–12 mm

Colour

• Bluish-black

Structure

• Drupe

Bark

Form

• Very small irregular scales

Colour

• Greyish-brown

Wood

Texture

• Hard, heavy, close-grained

Colour

• Dark brown

Size

Height

• To 10 m

Diameter

• To 15 cm

Tree form

Forest-grown

Trunk

• Slender, crooked

Crown

• Open, irregular, with a few arching branches

Habitat

Site 

• Riverbanks, lakeshores, forest edges, roadsides

Range

Southern Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec