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

### ![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.5965277777777778in" height="1.7340277777777777in"}

## Alternate Names

Southern arrow-wood, roughish arrow-wood, southern arrowwood

## Uses

The dense foliage, white flower clusters, and dark blue berries make
arrow-wood viburnum an attractive shrub for landscaping. Various
cultivars have been selected for hardiness, shape of the plant, fall
foliage color (yellow or red to reddish purple), and abundance of fruit.
They can be used for borders or screens or as mass plantings and
groupings to attract birds, which eat the fruit. Cultivars have been
selected for characteristics of the foliage, compactness of habit,
flowering time, and persistence of fruits. Many species of *Viburnum*
are cultivated (see Dirr 1997 and Floraguide 2000).

*Viburnum* species have been used for numerous medicinal purposes -- see
Alternative Medicine Foundation: HerbMed (2000) for notes and internet
links on medicinal use and other health related topics

## 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 growing
1-3 meters tall, with arching branches forming an overall rounded crown,
sometimes spreading up to 2.5 meters; twigs slender, ridged and angled.
Leaves deciduous, opposite, simple, oval to oblong, obovate, or
elliptic, 4-10 cm long, with coarsely but regularly toothed margins,
shiny dark green above, paler beneath, at least sparsely
stellate-pubescent beneath and on the petioles, turning yellow to red or
reddish-purple in late fall. Flowers are 5-8 mm wide, white, in
flat-topped clusters 5-8 cm broad. Fruits ovoid, berry-like (drupes),
5-8 mm in diameter, bluish-black. The common name refers to the Native
American use of the straight young stems as arrow shafts.

*Variation within the species*: Leaves of *V. dentatum* are
stellate-pubescent in variable density on the lower surfaces and
petioles. Localized geographic variants are often evident over the range
of the species, with leaf shape and size often more consistent on a
local or regional level than the type of vestiture. A number of
varieties have been recognized -- but these distinctions apparently have
not been recognized among the horticultural forms.

*V. dentatum* var. *deamii* (Rehd.) Fern.

*V. dentatum* var. *venosum* (Britt.) Gleason

*V. dentatum* var. *indianense* (Rehd.) Gleason

*V. dentatum* var. *lucidum* Ait. (= *V. recognitum* Fern.)

*V. dentatum* var. *scabrellum* Torr. & Gray (= *V. scabrellum* (Torr. &
Gray) Chapm.)

*Viburnum recognitum* has the leaves completely glabrous or sparsely
strigose with simple hairs along the veins and petioles, commonly with
tufts of soft, white hair in the vein axils of the lower surface. With
*V. dentatum*, *V. recognitum* ranges from Texas to New England, but *V.
recognitum* is the common form in the northern part of the range, *V.
dentatum* in the southern part. *Viburnum scabrellum* is a form with
broader, rougher leaves and primarily occurs in the southern part of the
*V. dentatum* range.

## Distribution

The *Viburnum dentatum* species complex is widespread in the eastern
United States, from Maine to Florida and westward to Iowa and east
Texas. For current distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page
for this species on the PLANTS Web site.

## Adaptation 

Open woods and margins, streambanks. Arrow-wood viburnum prefers loamy,
neutral to acid soil with ample moisture, but is adaptable to a range of
conditions from dry to fairly wet soil. Plants are salt-tolerant in New
England coastal areas. The can grow in generally drier conditions than
*V. acerifolium*. They most commonly occur in partial shade but can be
grown in full sun. Flowering May-June; fruiting August-November.

## Establishment

Plants may begin to produce fruits by the third year. Fruits apparently
are consistently formed every year. Like related species of *Viburnum*,
the seeds of *V. dentatum* probably have a cold requirement for breaking
embryo dormancy. Vegetative reproduction is through short rhizomes and
sprouts from the root crown.

## Management

Plants of arrow-wood viburnum are propagated from cuttings or seed. They
are easily transplanted and free from serious problems of disease or
insect pests (with the caveat below). Occasional pruning is helpful in
rejuvenation and shaping. Prune off basal suckers to restrict spreading
if necessary.

*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 over-wintering 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)

These plant materials are somewhat available from commercial sources.
Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil
Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone
book under "United States Government." The Natural Resources
Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading "Department of
Agriculture."

## References

Alternative Medicine Foundation: HerbMed 2000. *Viburnum*. Web site.
\<www.amfoundation.org/herbs/Viburnum.htm\>

Dirr, M.A. 1997. *Dirr\'s hardy trees and shrubs: An illustrated
encyclopedia*. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.

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.

Floraguide 2000. *Las especies de Viburnum cultivadas en España*.
Floraguide web site.

\<http://www.guiaverde.com/arboles/Viburnum.htm\>

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.

Texas A&M University 2000*. Images of the Caprifoliaceae*. IN: *Vascular
plant image gallery*. Bioinformatics Working Group, College Station,
Texas. 21SEP2000. \<http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/imaxxcpr.htm\>

## Prepared By

*Guy Nesom*

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

## Species Coordinator

### *Gerald Guala*

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

Edited 17jan01 jsp; 060818 jsp

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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