Cranberry Viburnum
Scientific name: Viburnum opulus var. americanum
American cranberry bush (also known as highbush cranberry) is an erect native shrub, averaging in height from 6 to 10 feet, occasionally taller on good sites. The plants are multi-stemmed but do not form thickets by spreading. They are dense shrubs because of close branching. The highbush cranberry is actually not a cranberry at all, though its fruit, or ‘drupes’ as they are known taxonomically, strongly resemble cranberries in both appearance and taste. They also mature in the fall, as cranberries do. The two plants are quite different, however. Both are native to North America, but the highbush cranberry is a Viburnum, a member of the Caprifoliaceae, or Honeysuckle family, in contrast to the ‘true,’ or lowbush cranberry, which is a Vaccinium, a member of the Ericaceae—Heather or Heath—family.
Leaves
The leaves are opposite, 3-lobed maple-like leaves and from 2 to 5 inches long. In the fall the leaves become scarlet.
Fruit
The fruit – bright red berries – ripens in September and October and are held in pendulous clusters. They resemble the true cranberry in size and color but are more translucent when ripe. While the fruit hangs on the branches all winter long, they are shriveled and look like dried raisins.
Flowers
The creamy-white flowers, which appear in late May and early June, measure 3 to 4 inches across. Each bloom is composed of an outer ring of large sterile flowers and an inner ring of tiny fertile ones.
Habitat
The shrub is useful as a medium tall hedge or border for screening or a windbreak.
Leaves
The leaves are opposite, 3-lobed maple-like leaves and from 2 to 5 inches long. In the fall the leaves become scarlet.
Fruit
The fruit – bright red berries – ripens in September and October and are held in pendulous clusters. They resemble the true cranberry in size and color but are more translucent when ripe. While the fruit hangs on the branches all winter long, they are shriveled and look like dried raisins.
Flowers
The creamy-white flowers, which appear in late May and early June, measure 3 to 4 inches across. Each bloom is composed of an outer ring of large sterile flowers and an inner ring of tiny fertile ones.
Ecosystem Connections
American cranberry bush is a good wildlife food and cover plant for small mammals and birds. Twigs are eaten by deer, moose and beaver. Fruits are a staple winter food for ruffed grouse and are eaten sparingly by pheasants and at least five species of songbirds. Humans find the fruit tart but edible and excellent as a preserve or sauce.
Did You Know?
American cranberry bush 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.
More on Trees and Shrubs in Lewisboro
Lewisboro was once entirely forested except for patches of open field caused by fire and wetlands and ponds which were expanded by beaver dams. Although it is hard to believe, by 1800 most of Lewisboro’s forests had been cut down and replaced by farms. In 1820 so many trees had been cleared that there was no shade anywhere along the route from Boston to New York.[1] But by the mid-1800’s farming here became uneconomical and as farms were abandoned, the forests began to re-grow. Today, 70% of New York is once again forest, what some call ‘the great environmental story of the United States’[2]. These new forests provide us with beauty and recreation, clean air and water, flood control, erosion prevention, carbon sequestration, cooler temperatures and habitat for other plants, insects, birds and other wildlife.
[1] Cronon, William. Changes in the Land. Macmillan, 1983.
[2] An Explosion of Green. B. Mckibben. Atlantic Monthly 275 (April 1995): 61-83.