Viburnum L.
Deciduous or evergreen shrubs or small trees. Winter buds naked or scaly. Lvs lobed or not, with small stipules or exstipulate. Infl. of cymosely arranged corymbs or panicles. Fls actinomorphic, usually ⚥; outer fls sometimes sterile and enlarged. Calyx 5-lobed, minute. Corolla rotate to campanulate, sometimes salverform or almost tubular; lobes 5. Stamens 5, small, often exserted. Ovary 1-celled. Style 1 or 0; stigma 3-lobed. Fr. a drupe; pyrene 1, usually compressed.
120-200 spp., N. temperate and subtropical. Naturalised sp. 1.
Many spp. are cultivated and several long-persist in abandoned or neglected gardens where they can appear wild. The most important are: V. × burkwoodii Burkwood, a semi-evergreen shrub with lvs shining above and tomentose beneath, and very fragrant fls in convex clusters, produced in late winter or early spring. V. lantana L., the deciduous wayfaring tree, has stellate-hairy or tomentose shoots, rugose lvs, and white foetid fls followed by red (turning black) frs; it is commonly used as stock for grafting and sometimes grows on after the intended Viburnum dies. This situation is especially seen in old, abandoned cultivation sites. V. opulus L., the deciduous guelder rose, has simple hairs, 3-5-lobed lvs and corymbs with the marginal fls enlarged and sterile; the usual form in N.Z. is cv. 'Roseum' (often called var. roseum L.), the common snowball tree, with globular heads of white sterile fls. This cultivar is prominent in many old, neglected or abandoned cultivation sites throughout N.Z. It should not be confused with the snowball form of V. plicatum var. tomentosum (Thunb.) Rehder which is another common cultigen.
