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

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="2.497916666666667in"
height="1.6770833333333333in"}

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

Sheepberry, wild raisin, sweet viburnum, nanny-berry

##### 

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

Nannyberry is a shade-tolerant, understory species useful in landscape
plantings as shrub borders, taller barriers, hedges, and windbreaks. It
produces good seasonal displays of flowers, fruits, and fall leaf color.
The fruits are sweet and edible and are eaten by many species of birds
and wildlife.

##### 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}

*General*: Nannyberry is a native, deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub or
small tree that may reach 36 ft. in height. The plant is also known as
"sheepberry" because its fruit smells like wet sheep wool when over
ripe. Nannyberry is leggy and somewhat open at maturity with an
irregular to rounded crown. Suckers often form at the base. The bark is
dark gray to black in a pattern of small blocks. Leaves are simple,
opposite, and ellipse to egg-shaped with finely toothed margins. They
are 2-4" long and hairless, or nearly so, on both sides. The ½-1"
petiole has a wavy, mostly winged margin. Mature foliage is dark glossy
green, becoming deep maroon to red in the fall. Small, creamy-white,
bisexual flowers in flat-topped clusters appear May-June. The ½"
berry-like fruits (drupes) are blue-black and form hanging clusters from
July - September.

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

Nannyberry is adaptable to a wide range of sites, but is commonly found
natively in moist areas with rich loam to clay-loam soil, such as low
woods, swamp borders, or near stream banks. It also occurs on moist,
wooded slopes, but tolerates drier sites. Although quite shade-tolerant,
it achieves relatively larger size in more open areas.

Nannyberry is distributed throughout the north and northeastern United
States. For a current distribution map, please consult the Plant Profile
page for this species on the PLANTS Website.

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

Nannyberry seed requires alternating temperatures and a cool moist
period to germinate (Dirr, 1990). The plant can be readily propagated by
softwood cuttings. Hanging branches may also root, or layer, where they
touch the ground. Nannyberry has fibrous roots and is easily
transplanted and established.

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

Although nannyberry grows naturally as a multi-stemmed shrub, it can be
maintained as a small tree by pruning stems and removing suckers at the
base.

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

Powdery mildew, which may affect leaves in late summer, decreases
aesthetic value but will not kill the plant. The viburnum leaf beetle
(*Pyrrhalta viburni)*, first a problem in Quebec and Ontario in 1978,
has moved to New York and Maine and is now a concern in urban landscapes
and nurseries. *V. lentago* leaves can be damaged or skeletonized by the
adults and larvae, although *V. opulus* is the beetle's preferred host.
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 on viburnum twigs. Chemical control is best applied
to young larvae. Over-wintering eggs should be pruned out and destroyed
before hatching.

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

Nannyberry 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, Maryland

##### 

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

Gerald Guala

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

##### Edited: 24Jul2002 JLK; 060818 jsp {#edited-24jul2002-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
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