Shrub 1 - 5 m tall

Leaves: opposite, stalked, shiny green above, dull green beneath, 4 - 10 cm long, mostly egg-shaped with a heart-shaped base (sometimes) and pointed to rounded tip, sharp-toothed, thin, nearly hairless or with some star-shaped hairs on the lower surface. Leaf stalks 8 mm - 2.5 cm long, with star-shaped hairs.

Flowers: in branched, compound clusters (cymes), which are borne terminally on the stems. Cymes mostly five- to seven-rayed, flat-topped, to about 13 cm wide. The leaves subtending the cymes have leaf stalks over 7 mm long. Corolla five-lobed, white, 4 - 5 mm wide, bell-shaped, sometimes sparsely hairy internally. Corolla tube to 1.2 mm long, 2 - 3 mm wide. Stamens five, exserted from the corolla. Anthers yellow. Stigma three-lobed.

Fruit: berry-like (drupe), in clusters, bluish black, 5 - 10 mm wide, spherical, single-seeded.

Twigs: slender, angled, downy when young, becoming hairless with age.

Form: rounded with arching branches.

Similar species: Two other varieties of Viburnum dentatumoccur in the Chicago Region: lucidum and scabrellum. Variety lucidum differs by having hairless leaf stalks. Variety scabrellum differs by having rounded, thick leaves with many star-shaped hairs beneath. Viburnum rafinesquianum is also similar but has stipules on the leaf stalks. Also, the leaves subtending the inflorescence of V. rafinesquianum have leaf stalks no longer than 7 mm.

Flowering: May to June

Habitat and ecology: Introduced from farther east. An escape from cultivation. Found in fields, woods, and disturbed areas.

Occurence in the Chicago region: non-native

Notes: About 200 species of Viburnum occur between North America, Europe and Asia. Many are ornamental shrubs cultivated for their showy flowers, autumn foliage, and attraction to wildlife.

Etymology: Viburnum is the Latin word for the Wayfaring tree. Dentatum means toothed.

Author: The Morton Arboretum

[Deam treats this species as V. pubescens with two varieties. In variety deamii the upper leaf surface is pubescent all over while in var. indianense the pubescence is limited to the principal veins.]

[Variety deamii ] is found in the southern half of the state in hard, clay soil, associated with sweet gum, black gum, pin oak, and beech. It is also found in the knobstone area toward the bases of wooded slopes where it is associated with oaks, or with beech and maple.

[Variety indianense is] usually found in low woods, associated with beech, red maple, and sweet gum; with beech, white ash, shagbark hickory, and sugar maple; and with white elm, ash, and red oak. Rarely is it found on dry, rocky, wooded slopes and once it was found in a springy terrace along Sugar Creek in Montgomery County.