| Northern Wild Raisin | |
|
|
Northern Wild
Raisin, Viburnum cassinoides L. An upright shrub with spreading branches and a rounded form. Height: 1-3 m.s Buds: Young shoots are covered with many small, rusty-colored scales. Larger flower buds only partly covered by the two bud scales. Older bark is shiny reddish-brown, sometimes flaky and marked with many horizontal whitish lenticels. Newer branches are light brown, contrasting sharply with older bark. Leaves: Opposite, oval or elliptical, rounded at the base and usually with a prolonged tip, thickish, 5-8 cm long. Dark green, smooth and shiny above, lighter and dotted with minute brown scales beneath. Leaves turn purplish in autumn, then bright red. Leafstalks are winged. Flowers: Creamy white, in flat-topped clusters (cymes) 5-10 cm across. Each flower has 5 rounded lobes and 5 stamens, and is about 5 mm across. Blooms in July. Fruit: Elongated or spherical drupes about 6 mm in diameter. Bluish-black when mature and covered with a powder. Pale green or yellowish and rose-colored fruit are often on the same bush at the same time. Contain large, flattened seed. Edible. Ripen by early September. Habitat: Generally wet areas – thickets, clearings, borders of woods, wet heaths, along streams and around ponds. Common throughout most of Newfoundland but rare on the Northern Peninsula. Not found in Labrador. Source:
Native Trees and Shrubs of Newfoundland and Labrador
|
