Trees of New York State 341 



CAPRIFOLIACEAE 



Viburnum Lentago L. 



Nannyberry, Sheepsberry 



Habit — Generally a shrub 10-15 feet in height, occasionally a bushy tree 

 20-30 feet iu height with a trunk diameter of 6-10 inches. Trunk gener- 

 ally short, soon breaking up into slender, ascending, tortuous branches 

 which form a %vide, rounded top. 



Leaves — Opposite, ovate to oval, 2i/^-5 inches long, abruptly acuminate at 

 the apex, narrowed or rounded at the base, sharply and finely serrate on 

 the margin, at maturity thick, bright green and lustrous above, yellowish 

 green, dark punctate, and smooth below, borne on grooved, often winged 

 petioles 1-1^ inches in length. 



Flowers — Appearing in May and early June after the leaves in dense, sessile, 

 many-flowered, several-rayed, terminal cymes 3-5 inches broad. Calyx- 

 tube narrowly ovoid, adherent to the ovary, with 5 minute, persistent 

 lobes. Corolla pale cream-colored or white, rotate, deeply 5-lobed. 

 Stamens 5, exserted, inserted at the base of the corolla and alternate with 

 its lobes, with long slender filaments and yellow anthers. Pistil consist- 

 ing of an inferior, 1-celled ovary surmounted by a short, conic style 

 bearing 3 stigmatic lobes at the apex. 



Fruit — An oval, black or dark blue, thick-skinned, glaucous drupe, %-% 

 of an inch long, borne on slender, reddish stalks in drooping clusters, 

 ripening in September. Flesh juicy, sweet. Pit oval, flattened, granular. 



Winter characters — Twigs slender, somewhat scurfy, light red, with scat- 

 tered orange-colored lenticels, ill-smelling when broken. Terminal flower- 

 buds ovate, long acuminate, about % of an inch long, protected by a pair 

 of opposite light red, scurfy-pubescent scales. Terminal-shoot buds lan- 

 ceolate, otherwise similar to the flower-buds. Lateral buds lanceolate, 

 appressed, much smaller than the terminal buds. Mature bark thin, red- 

 dish brown, divided by shallow fissures into small, irregular, scaly plates. 



Habitat — In low, moist, fertile soils along stream courses and lake shores, 

 occasionally in drier situations along fence rows. 



Range — Quebec westward to Manitoba, southward to Georgia and Oklahoma. 

 Zones A, B, and C. 



Uses — Of no economic value except as an ornamental plant. Propagated in 

 parks and private estates for its showy fragrant flowers, attractive foliage 

 and sho^vy, edible, autumnal fruit. 



