Arrowwood Viburnum

(Caprifoliaceae - Honeysuckle Family)

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• Form
  • medium-sized to large-sized ornamental shrub
  • maturing at about 9' tall by 9' wide, although larger under optimum conditions
  • upright oval growth habit in youth, becoming arching, spreading, and suckering with age
  • medium growth rate (except for the basal shoots which are rapidly growing)

• Culture
  • full sun to partial shade
  • prefers moist, well-drained soils of average fertility in full sun, but is highly adaptable to dry soils, poor soils, soils of various pH, heat, drought, and pollution (very urban tolerant)
  • propagated by rooted stem cuttings or by seeds
  • Honeysuckle Family, with virtually no disease or pest problems
  • abundantly available, primarily in ball and burlap from

• Foliage
  • medium-green to dark green, often shiny to lustrous, opposite, narrow ovate to ovate to broad-ovate, dentate, with veins that are somewhat impressed
  • apex has a long or short acuminate tip, while the base is cuneate, rounded, or cordate, and the blade is either flat or cupped
  • fall color is highly variable, ranging from faded green to chartreuse to shades of yellow, orange, burgundy, or red

• Flowers
  • creamy-white, in late May and early June, quite showy as flat-topped inflorescences of about 3" diameter and effective for two weeks, being the last Viburnum to bloom

• Fruits
  • deep porcelain blue to blue-purple, maturing in August and sometimes abscising in October, but readily eaten by the birds and usually not persistent for very long
  • fruits are in flat-topped clusters, can be profusely borne, and very attractive when viewed up-close
  • fruit stalks are usually persistent into the following year

• Twigs
  • gray-brown, noticeably lenticeled, and striated with maturation, with Winter buds that are smooth, slightly elongated, and with scales
  • new growth from basal suckers is very straight (American Indians used the new shoot growth for their arrow shafts, hence the common name)

• Trunk
  • old branches arch with age, in part hiding the legginess of the older trunks, along with the constantly emerging basal suckers
  • trunks remain subtlely striated, but become gray and fissuring with maturity

• ID Summary
  • straight new shoots, either from the canopy or basal suckers, give rise to opposite, ovate leaves that are glossy and very dentate, maturing as dark green and having good to excellent fall color among the cultivars
  • creamy inflorescences open in late May and continue through early June, being the last Viburnum to flower, and give rise to blue or purple fruits in late Summer, which the birds typically devour
  • growth habit is upright oval when young, becoming arching and suckering with maturity

• Function
  • formal or informal hedge, border, entranceway, foundation, utilitarian, group planting, naturalizing, or specimen shrub

• Texture
  • medium texture in foliage and when bare
  • thick density in foliage and when bare

• Assets
  • very urban tolerant
  • creamy inflorescences in late Spring, glossy dark green foliage in Summer, and blue fruits in late Summer and early Autumn
  • fall color is often outstanding among certain cultivars and sporadically among the species forms
  • takes well to frequent shearing (if used as a formal hedge)
  • wildlife attraction (especially birds)
  • cold hardiness

• Liabilities
  • profuse basal suckering with age can become a frequent maintenance chore to remove, if the shrub is used as a specimen plant (rather than as a hedge or in a naturalizing situation)

• Habitat
  • zones 2 to 8
  • native to Eastern North America

• Alternates
  • good formal or informal hedges (Ribes alpinum, Spiraea x vanhouttei, Taxus x media, Viburnum x rhytidophylloides, etc.)
  • shrubs with blue or blue-purple berries in Summer or Autumn (Cornus racemosa, Mahonia aquifolium)

• Variants
  • Michael Dirr, in his classic "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants", correctly observes that this "species", as sold by nurseries, is actually several species that are very closely related in terms of genetics and morphological features; this would account for the high variability that is seen among "Arrowwood Viburnum" in leaf shape, leaf margin, leaf glossiness, inflorescence bloom time, fruit maturation time, and fall foliage color
  • Viburnum dentatum 'Autumn Jazz' (also known as 'Ralph Senior') - dark green foliage becomes a mixture of red, yellow, orange, and burgandy fall color, on a shrub that is slightly more compact than other cultivars
  • Viburnum dentatum 'Chicago Lustre' (also known as 'Synnestvedt') - dark glossy foliage is especially handsome in Summer, turning gold or burgandy-purple in Autumn
  • Viburnum dentatum 'Northern Burgundy' (also known as 'Morton') - dark glossy green foliage transitions to a blend of burgundy, red, and wine in Autumn

• Translation
  • Viburnum is the classical Latin name for Wayfaringtree Viburnum.
  • dentatum translates as "toothed", and refers to the leaf margins.

• Purpose
  • Arrowwood Viburnum is one of the best shrubs for both late Spring inflorescences and late Summer blue berries, and can be an excellent deciduous informal or formal hedge.

• Summary
  • Viburnum dentatum is known for its upright growth habit in youth that arches with age, late Spring flowering, late Summer blue fruits, urban tolerance, and usage as a deciduous screen, hedge, or in naturalized situations.