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| **HIGHBUSH-CRANBERRY**                                                |
|                                                                       |
| ***Viburnum opulus* L. var. *americanum* Ait.**                       |
|                                                                       |
| plant symbol = VIOPA2                                                 |
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####### Contributed By: USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center & the Biota of North America Program

![](media/image3.jpeg){width="2.504861111111111in"
height="1.6694444444444445in"}

### Alternate names

American cranberrybush, cranberry tree, crampbark tree, guelder-rose,
wild gueldes-rose, gueldres-rose, cherry-wood, rose elder, red elder,
marsh elder, water elder, white elder, gadrise, gaiter tree, gatten,
love rose, May rose, pincushion tree, dog rowan tree, whitten tree,
squaw bush, witch-hobble, witchhopple; synonyms: *Viburnum trilobum*
Marsh.; *Viburnum opulus* ssp. *trilobum* (Marsh.) Clausen

### Uses

*Ethnobotanic*: The bark of highbush cranberry yields a powerful
antispasmodic (whence the origin of one its American common names,
crampbark). The water-soluble preparation (containing a bitter compound
called viburnine) has been used for relief of menstrual and stomach
cramps and asthma. The antispasmodic properties apparently were
discovered independently by European, Native American, and Asian
peoples. The action of this agent from highbush cranberry closely
resembles that of black haw (*Viburnum prunifolium*).

Highbush cranberry is used as an ornamental plant and valued for its
edible fruits. The fruit is commonly gathered from wild stands in late
August or early September, best when picked slightly under-ripe (and
sour), and used in sauces, jellies, and juices. If picked after a heavy
frost, the fruit are softer and more palatable but they develop a musty,
somewhat objectionable odor during cooking. The species has never
developed into a commercial fruit crop.

*Wildlife*: The bright red fruits often persist on the plants throughout
the winter, good for ornamental value but suggesting that they may not
be especially palatable for wildlife. Still, they are known to be eaten
by deer, moose, foxes, raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, skunks, mice,
rabbits, grouse, pheasants, robins, cedar waxwings, and other songbirds.
They are not normally eaten by birds until after they have frozen and
thawed several times.

The native (American) plants of this species (= *V. trilobum* = *V.
opulus* var. *americanum*, see below) are hardier as ornamentals, less
susceptible to aphid attack, and have more intense fall color than the
Eurasian plants, and they produce edible fruit. Fruit of the European
plants tends to be bitter, and cultivars derived from the European
species are grown strictly as ornamentals.

### 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 to 4 m
high, with upright, spreading, arching branches. Leaves deciduous,
opposite, ovate, 5-12 cm long, deeply 3-lobed, coarsely toothed, with
1-6 large glands near the petiole apex, becoming yellow-red or
reddish-purple in the fall. Flowers white, in flat-topped clusters 7-10
cm broad, with flowers of two different types, those in the outer ring
sterile, showy, with expanded corollas 1-2 cm broad, the inner flowers
much smaller, fertile, with yellow anthers. Fruit berry-like (a drupe),
globose, bright red, 8-10 mm in diameter; stone single, strongly
flattened. The common name alludes to the resemblance in fruit between
the highbush cranberry and the cranberry of commerce (*Vaccinium
macrocarpon*).

*Variation within the species*.

The North American plants have generally been recognized as the same
species as the closely similar native of Europe, northern Africa, and
northern Asia -- *V. opulus* L. \[var. *opulus*\]. Var. *opulus* is said
to differ from the American variety in its filiform-attenuate stipules
and petiolar glands mostly short-pedicellate, round-topped to concave,
and mostly wider than high. Voss (1996) notes that "variation between
vars. *opulus* and *americanum* is too great -- and too continuous -- to
make clear distinctions." Variants have not generally been recognized
from within the American segment of the species, but horticultural
selections have been made from plants of both continents, primarily for
leaf color, fruit color, and growth habit. The best known of these is
the cultivated "snowball bush" (*V. opulus* var. *roseum*), a form
developed from Old World plants, with spherical inflorescences of
enlarged, completely sterile flowers (the \"snowballs\").

The native variety (var. *americanum*) is known to hybridize with
cultivated or escaped ornamental forms of var. *opulus*. This may result
in the gradual degradation or loss of the native genotype.

*Distribution*: Var. *americanum* is widely distributed across
north-central North America, from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, and Quebec to British Columbia, and in the US from Maine to
Pennsylvania and West Virginia, northwestward to Washington. For current
distribution, please consult the Plant Profile page for this species on
the PLANTS Web site. The non-native var. *opulus* is frequently planted
and sometimes escapes; it is recorded from Ontario and New Brunswick and
various states in the northeastern quarter of the US -- Maine to
Virginia and West Virginia, westward to Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri.

### Adaptation 

Highbush cranberry grows in wet woods, along streams, and on moist
wooded hillsides, requiring moist but well-drained sites for best
development. Flowering (May-)June-July; fruiting August-September.

### Establishment

The seeds are difficult to germinate; in the wild, seeds don\'t
germinate until the second spring following the ripening of the fruit.

### Management

Highbush cranberry is easy to grow, adaptable to a variety of soil and
acidity, but it does best in consistently moist but well-drained soil. A
yearly application of compost or well-rotted manure will maintain growth
and fruit yields The plants are shade-tolerant, but flowering, fruiting,
and foliage color will be best on plants in full sun. Plants may require
occasional pruning to keep them from becoming leggy and to encourage the
production of new shoots; prune immediately after flowering. Highbush
cranberry can be propagated through hardwood and softwood cuttings,
layering, crown division and by seed. Take softwood cuttings in mid-June
through early-July for easiest rooting.

Var. *americanum* is relatively -free from insect and disease damage in
cultivation although bacterial leaf spot, powdery mildew, shoot blight,
tarnished plant bugs, stem borers, and thrips will occasionally be a
problem.

*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)

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 somewhat available from commercial sources. Native plant
cultivars with superior fruit and processing characteristics are
available (for example: "Andrews," "Hahs," "Hogg\'s Red," "Manitou,"
"Phillips," and "Wentworth"). The processed fruit is very similar to
cranberry (*Vaccinium macrocarpon*) and red currant (*Ribes rubrum*).

### References

Barton L.V. 1958. *Germination and seedling production of species of*
*Viburnum*. Pl. Propag. 8:126-136.

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.

Felter, H.W. & J.U. Lloyd 2000. *Viburnum opulus*. In King's American
Dispensatory. Web site.

\<http://metalab.unc.edu/herbmed/eclectic/kings/sambucus.html\>

Ferguson, I.K. 1966. *The genera of the Caprifoliaceae in the
southeastern United States*. J. Arnold Arbor. 47:33-59.

Finn, C. 1999. *Temperate berry crops*. Pp. 324--334. IN: J. Janick
(ed.), *Perspectives on new crops and new uses*. ASHS Press, Alexandria,
Virginia.
\<http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1999/v4-324.html#cranberry\>

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\>

Giersbach J. 1937. *Germination and seedling production of species of*
*Viburnum*. Contr. Boyce Thompson Inst. Pl. Res. 9:79-90.

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

Hillebrand, G.R. &D.E. Fairbrothers 1969. *A serological investigation
of intrageneric relationships in Viburnum (Caprifoliaceae)*. Bull.
Torrey Bot. Club 96:556-567.

Jones, T.H. 1983. *A revision of the genus Viburnum sect. Lentago
(Caprifoliaceae)*. Ph.D. diss., North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh.

Jones, E. & N.T. Wheelwright 1987*. Seasonal changes in the fruits of
Viburnum opulus, a freshly-fruiting temperate-zone shrub*. Canad. J.
Bot. 65:2291-2296.

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\>

Krannitz, P.G. & M.A. Maun 1991. *An experimental study of floral
display size and reproductive success in Viburnum opulus: importance of
grouping*. Canad. J. Bot. 69:394-399.

Krannitz, P.G. & M.A. Maun 1991. *Insect visitors to guelder rose,
Viburnum opulus var. opulus (Caprifoliaceae) in London, Ontario*. Canad.
Field-Naturalist 105:13-17.

Lubbock J. 1891. *On the form of the leaf of Viburnum opulus and* *V.
lantana*. J. Linn. Soc. Bot. 28:244-247.

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

Pixler, VA. 1950. *The Caprifoliaceae of West Virginia*. Castanea
15:80-91.

St-Pierre, R. 1995. *The highbush cranberry - A multipurpose shrub*.
Internet publication.

\<http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.ag.usask.ca/cofa/departments/hort/hortinfo/fruit/cranbery.html+viburnum+trilobum&hl=en\>

Voss, E.G. 1996. *Viburnum*. Pp. 309-315. IN: *Michigan Flora, Part
III*. Cranbrook Institute of Science Bull. 61.

### Prepared By

*Guy Nesom*

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

### Species Coordinator

# M. Kat Anderson

USDA, NRCS, National Plant Data Center

c/o Environmental Horticulture Department, University of California,
Davis, California

Revised: 29jan03 jsp; 09jun03 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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