E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Viburnum opulus L.
American bush-cranberry (European cranberrybush; wild guelder-rose)
Adoxaceae (Honeysuckle family)
(Previously in Caprifoliaceae)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Bryan Kelly-McArthur  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #89453)

E-Flora BC Static Map
Distribution of Viburnum opulus
Click here to view our interactive map and legend
Details about map content are available here
Click on the map dots to view record details.

Species Information

Click on the image below to view an expanded illustration for this species.



General:
Deciduous, erect, large shrub, 1-4 m tall; twigs glabrous; bark smooth, grey.
Leaves:
Opposite, stalked, broadly egg-shaped to nearly round in outline, 5-13 cm long, all deeply and sharply 3-lobed, coarsely blunt-toothed, nearly glabrous or hairy beneath on the veins; stalks with a shallow groove and small glands upward.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a flattish cluster of several to many flowers, 5-15 cm across, with sterile marginal flowers much larger than the fertile inner ones; petals white, fused at bases into tubes that spread (1.5-2.5 cm wide) to 5 large lobes in the marginal flowers, to 3-4 mm wide in the small inner flowers; stamens conspicuous, exserted of corolla, the filaments 3-5 mm long.
Fruits:
Berrylike drupes, clustered, scarlet, 0.8-1.5 cm long, each with a single, large, flattened stone.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

USDA Species Characteristics

Flower Colour:
White
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Red
Present from Summer to Fall
Source:  The USDA

Habitat / Range

Moist streambanks and lakesides in the steppe and montane zones; infrequent in WC, SC and SE BC; E to NF and S to PA, WY, ID, and WA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Viburnum opulus

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 385 904 1526
Slope Gradient (%) 0 1 6
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
14 3 353
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
5 6 7
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
D
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
7
Modal BEC Zone Class
ICH
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: ESSF(1), ICH(3), IDF(1), MS(1), SBS(1)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Viburnum opulus subsp. trilobum (Marsh.) R.T. Clausen
Viburnum trilobum Marsh.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References