CAPRIFOLIACEAE 
Sheepberry. Nannyberry 
Viburnum lentago L,. 
HABIT.—A low tree or shrub 15-25 feet high, with a short 
trunk 6-10 inches in diameter; numerous tortuous branches form 
a wide, compact, rounded crown. 
LEAVES.—Opposite, simple, 2-4 inches long, one-half as 
broad; ovate to suborbicular; finely and sharply serrate; thick 
and firm; lustrous, bright green above, pale and marked with 
tiny black dots beneath; petioles broad, grooved, more or less 
winged, about 1 inch long. 
FLOWERS.—May-June, after the leaves; perfect; small; 
cream-white, borne in stout-branched, scurfy, flat, terminal cymes 
3-5 inches across; calyx tubular, 5-toothed; corolla 5-lobed, cream 
color or white, % inch across; stamens 5, with yellow anthers; 
ovary I-celled, with short, thick, green style and broad stigma. 
FRUIT.—September; a fleshy drupe, % inch long, ovoid, 
flattened, blue-black, borne in few-fruited, red-stemmed clusters ; 
stone oval, flat, rough; flesh sweet, edible. 
WINTER-BUDS.—Leaf-buds narrow, acute, red, scurfy- 
pubescent, 4 inch long; flower-buds swollen at the base, with 
spire-like apex, grayish with scurfy pubescence, 34 inch long. 
BARK.—Twigs at first light green, rusty-pubescent, becom- 
ing dark red-brown; red-brown on old trunks and broken into 
small, thick plates. 
‘WOOD.—Heavy, hard, close-grained, ill-smelling, dark 
orange-brown, with thin, whitish sapwood. 
DISTRIBUTION.—Frequent throughout the state. 
HABITAT.—Prefers rich, moist soil along the borders of 
forests: roadsides; river-banks. 
NOTES.—Too small for street use. Propagated from seed 
or by cuttings. 
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