CAPRIFOLIACE.E HONEYSUCKLE 

 FAMILY 



SWEET VIBURNUM. SHEEPBERRY 



Viburnum lentago. 



Viburnum is a Latin name of unknown meaning. 

 Lentago, from lentils, an allusion to its flexible branches. 



A small tree about twenty feet in height, with a short trunk, 

 round-topped head, pendulous, flexible branches. Roots fibrous, 

 wood ill-smelling. Loves wet soil along the borders of the forest, 

 often found in fence corners and along roadsides. Ranges from 

 Quebec to the Saskatchewan River, southward through the northern 

 states to Georgia and west to Missouri and Nebraska. 



Bark. Reddish brown, divided into small thick plates, sur- 

 face scaly. Branchlets at first pale green, covered with rusty down, 

 finally become dark reddish brown, sometimes glaucous. 



Wood. Dark orange brown ; heavy, hard, close-grained. Sp. 

 gr., 0.7303 ; weight of cu. ft., 45.51 Ibs. 



Winter Buds. Light red, covered with pale scurfy down, pro- 

 tected by a pair of opposite scales. Flower-bearing buds are three- 

 quarters of an inch long, obovate, long pointed. Other terminal 

 buds are acute, one-half an inch long ; lateral buds much smaller. 

 Bud-scales enlarge with the growing shoot and often become leaf- 

 like. 



Leaves. Opposite, simple, ovate, two and one-half inches long, 

 wedge-shaped, rounded or subcordate at base, serrate, acuminate. 

 They come out of the bud involute, bronze green and shining, hairy 

 and downy ; when full grown are bright green and shining above, 

 pale green and marked with tiny black dots beneath. Feather 

 veined, midrib slender, primary veins connected by conspicuous 

 veinlets. In autumn they turn a deep red, or red and orange. 

 Petioles broad, grooved, winged or wingless, an inch to an inch and 

 a half in length. Stipules tiny, occasional. 



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