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| **MAPLE-LEAF VIBURNUM**                                               |
|                                                                       |
| ***Viburnum* *acerifolium* L.**                                       |
|                                                                       |
| plant symbol = VIAC                                                   |
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####### Contributed By: USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center & the Biota of North America Program

## Alternate common names

Dockmackie, guelder-rose, maple-leaved arrow-wood, possum-haw,
squash-berry

## Uses

Deer, rabbits, mice, skunks, ruffed grouse, ring-necked pheasants, wild
turkeys, and many species of songbirds eat the fruits of maple-leaf
viburnum. Deer, moose, rabbits, and beavers eat the twigs, bark, and
leaves. The relatively low-growing plants provide good nesting and
escape cover for birds and small mammals.

Maple-leaf viburnum has long been cultivated for its attractive summer
flowers and foliage; then the autumn leaves turn rose-purple and
contrast with the mature dark fruits. The plants will thrive in moist
soils and a range of light conditions but they are a good choice for dry
soils in deep shade. They can be used along forest edges, streamsides,
and lakeshores.

## Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status, such as, state noxious status
and wetland indicator values.

## Description 

*General*: Honeysuckle family (Caprifoliaceae). Native shrubs 0.5-2 m
high, rhizomatous and forming

thickets; twigs pubescent. Leaves deciduous, ovate or orbicular, mostly
deeply 3-lobed, 5-12 cm broad, coarsely toothed, lower surface minutely
black-dotted, nearly glabrous to thinly pubescent with stellate hairs.
Flowers white, bisexual, 4-6 mm wide, in upright, flat-topped clusters
4-7 cm wide. Fruit berry-like (drupes), 6-8 mm long, nearly black, with
a single stone.

*Variation within the species:*

No varieties are currently formally recognized within *V. acerifolium*
-- previous named varieties within the species have described vaguely
discernible and widely overlapping geographic trends of morphological
variation. ![](media/image1.jpeg){width="2.4930555555555554in"
height="1.6680555555555556in"}

*V. acerifolium* var. *acerifolium*

*V. acerifolium* var. *densiflorum* (Chapm.) McAtee

*V. acerifolium* var. *glabrescens* Rehd.

*V. acerifolium* var. *ovatum* (Rehd.) McAtee

*Distribution*: Widely distributed in eastern North America, New
Brunswick (rare), Quebec, and Ontario south through Wisconsin, Illinois,
and Arkansas to Florida and eastward into east Texas. For current
distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on
the PLANTS Web site.

## Adaptation 

Maple-leaf viburnum occurs in upland forests, hillsides, and ravine
slopes. It grows best in well-drained, moist soils and is tolerant of
acid soils. It requires partial shading for optimum growth and
development and occurs primarily in mid- to late-seral communities. It
is a common understory species in beech-maple forests in the
northeastern and midwestern United States; along the Gulf coastal plain,
it is found in rich deciduous woods, often with white oak. Flowering
May-August; fruiting July-October.

## Establishment

Maple-leaf viburnum begins seed production at about 2 years of age and
produces abundant fruit every year. Most seeds have an impermeable
seedcoat and embryo dormancy that requires a warm-cold stratification
sequence to be broken. Vegetative reproduction through rhizomes is
extensive.

## Management

Low- to moderate-severity fires top-kill maple-leaf viburnum. It
apparently survives fire by sprouting from underground rhizomes, but
these are shallow and easily damaged and the species decreases with
exposure to repeated fires.

*Viburnum leaf beetle:* The viburnum leaf beetle (*Pyrrhalta viburni*),
native to Europe and Asia, was first encountered in North America in
1947, perhaps arriving earlier from Europe on nursery plants. It
received little notice until 1978, when it caused severe defoliation of
ornamental viburnums in Ontario and Quebec. It has now reached western
New York and Maine and become a concern in urban landscapes and
nurseries.

The adult and the larva "skeletonize" leaves by feeding on the leaves
between the midrib and larger veins. Plants, which have been defoliated
for 2-3 consecutive years, may be killed. The preferred host is
*Viburnum opulus* and its selections; lesser damage is caused to *V.
lantana* and *V. rafinesquianum*, *V. dentatum*, *V. acerifolium*, and
*V. lentago*. Other species, particularly *V. rhytidophyllum* and *V.
carlesii*, are relatively unaffected.

The entire life cycle of the viburnum leaf beetle takes about 8-10
weeks. Larvae hatch in early May and feed on the viburnum leaves
throughout the larval period, which lasts 4-5 weeks. The larvae pupate
in the soil. The adults (4.5-6.5 mm long, brown) appear by mid-July and
continue eating the leaves, then mate and lay overwintering eggs on the
twigs. Egg-laying holes are in a straight line on the underside of the
current season\'s growth.

Chemical control of the viburnum leaf beetle is best applied to young
larvae, because adults will fly away or drop to the ground if disturbed.
If over-wintering egg sites are found, affected wood should be pruned
and destroyed before the eggs hatch. Examine upper and lower leaf
surfaces for feeding larvae. Potential biological control mechanisms are
being studied.

## Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

Please check the Vendor Database, expected to be on-line through the
PLANTS Web site in 2001 by clicking on Plant Materials. These plant
materials are readily available from commercial sources.

## References

Coladonato, M. 1993. *Viburnum acerifolium*. IN: W.C. Fischer
(compiler). *The fire effects information system* \[Data base\].
U.S.D.A, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Intermountain
Fire Sciences Laboratory. Missoula, Montana.
\<http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/\>

Donoghue, M. 1980. *Flowering times in Viburnum*. Arnoldia 40:2-22;

Donoghue, M. 1983. *A preliminary analysis of phylogenetic relationships
in Viburnum (Caprifoliaceae s.l.)*. Syst. Bot. 8:45-58.

Egolf, D.R. 1962. *A cytological study of the genus Viburnum*. J. Arnold
Arb. 43:132-172.

Friedlander, B.P., Jr. 1999. *Voracious viburnum leaf beetle munches
into Ithaca area*. Cornell Chronicle.
\<http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicles/6.17.99/leaf_beetle.html\>

Hauser, E.J.P. 1965. *Characteristics and distribution of Viburnum
(Caprifoliaceae) in Georgia*. Bull. Ga. Acad. Sci. 23:(11 pages).

Kessel, C. 2000. *Viburnum leaf beetle, Pyrrhalta viburni (Paykull), in
the nursery and landscape*. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and
Rural Affairs, Ontario, Canada. Web site.
\<http://www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/crops/facts/vlb.htm\>

McAtee, W.L. 1956. *A review of the Nearctic Viburnum*. Published by the
author, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Thomson J. & O. Thomson 1981. *Leaf shapes of Viburnum acerifolium*.
Bull. Bot. Club Wisconsin 12:4-5.

## Prepared By

*Guy Nesom*

BONAP, North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

## Species Coordinator

### Lincoln Moore

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Edited 17jan01 jsp; 11feb03 ahv

For more information about this and other plants, please contact your
local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the PLANTS
\<[http://plants.usda.gov](http://plants.usda.gov/)\> and Plant
Materials Program Web sites
\<[http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov](http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/)\>.

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