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| ## mapleleaf viburnum {#mapleleaf-viburnum .Title-Header}             |
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| *Viburnum acerifolium* L.                                             |
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| Plant Symbol = VIAC                                                   |
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Contributed by: USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center & the Biota of
North America Program

##### Alternate Names {#alternate-names .Header-3}

Maple-leaf viburnum, maple-leaved arrow-wood,

dockmackie, guelder-rose, possum-haw, squash-berry

##### Uses {#uses .Header-3}

Landscape: Mapleleaf viburnum is a native, thicket-forming shrub long
cultivated for its good seasonal displays of creamy flowers, attractive
summer leaves, dark mature fruits and reddish-purple fall color. It is
adaptable to a wide range of light and soil conditions, is an excellent
choice for dry soils in deep shade, and is useful for naturalizing along
forest edges, streamsides and lakeshores.

*Wildlife:* Mature fruits are eaten by a variety of wildlife including
mammals, game birds and many species of songbirds. Its low-growing habit
provides good nesting and escape cover for birds and small mammals.

##### Status {#status .Header-3}

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural
Resources for this plant's current status (e.g. threatened or endangered
species, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values).

##### Description {#description .Header-3}

*V. acerfolium* is a native, thicket-forming shrub, 4 to 6 feet high and
3 to 4 feet wide. Twigs are pubescent (hairy). Leaves are deciduous and
2-5 inches wide, and most are deeply 3-lobed with coarse teeth on the
margins. Lower leaf surfaces have minute black dots, and are nearly
smooth to thinly stellate (having star-like tufted hairs). Small
creamy-white, bisexual flowers in upright, flat-topped clusters 1-3
inches wide appear May through August. The 1/3-inch to 1/2-inch
berry-like drupes are nearly black and appear July through October,
often persisting into winter.
![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.497916666666667in"
height="1.6652777777777779in"}

##### Adaptation and Distribution {#adaptation-and-distribution .Header-3}

Mapleleaf viburnum occurs natively on hillsides and ravine slopes, as an
understory shrub in upland beech-maple forests of the Northeast and
Midwest, and in rich deciduous woods along the Gulf coastal plain.
Optimum growth occurs in well-drained, moist soils, with partial
shading; however, *V*. *acerfolium* is tolerant of acid soils, dry sites
and deep shade.

Mapleleaf viburnum is distributed throughout the East. For a current
distribution map, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species
on the PLANTS Website.

##### Establishment {#establishment .Header-3}

Mapleleaf viburnum produces abundant fruit and seed yearly beginning at
about 2-3 years of age. Most seeds have an impermeable seedcoat and
embryo dormancy that requires a warm-cold stratification sequence for
germination. The plant may prove difficult to propagate from seed.
Vegetative reproduction is through rhizomes, or softwood cuttings (Dirr
and Heuser, 1987).

##### Management {#management .Header-3}

The plant's suckering habit forms open colonies and it is best in a
naturalized setting. In the native landscape, *V. acerfolium* may be
damaged and decreased by repeated exposure to fires.

##### Pests and Potential Problems {#pests-and-potential-problems .Header-3}

The viburnum leaf beetle *(Pyrrhalta viburni*) was introduced from
Europe and Asia to North America around 1947 and first became a problem
in Canada in 1978. It has now moved to the northeastern United States
where it is a concern in urban landscapes and nurseries. *Viburnum
acerfolium* leaves can be damaged or skeletonized by the beetle adults
and larvae, though *Viburnum opulus* appears to be the insect's
preferred host and is most seriously affected. The beetle larvae hatch
in early May, feed for about 4-5 weeks then pupate in the soil. Adults
emerge by mid-July, feed, mate, and lay over-wintering eggs in a
straight line on viburnum twigs. The over-wintering eggs should be
pruned out and destroyed before hatching. Chemical control is best
applied to young larvae, which feed on both upper and lower leaf
surfaces.

##### Cultivars, Improved, and Selected Materials (and area of origin) {#cultivars-improved-and-selected-materials-and-area-of-origin .Header-3}

*V. acerfolium* cultivars are not readily available.

##### Prepared By:  {#prepared-by .Header-3}

Guy Nesom

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

##### 

Kathy Davis

USDA, NRCS National Plant Materials Center Beltsville, MD

##### Species Coordinator:  {#species-coordinator .Header-3}

Gerald Guala

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

##### Edited 25Jul2002 JLK; 060818 jsp {#edited-25jul2002-jlk-060818-jsp .Header-4}

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

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*To file a complaint of discrimination write USDA, Director, Office of
Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence
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*Read about [Civil Rights at the Natural Resources Convervation
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