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Squashberry, Viburnum edule (Michx.) Raf
Caprifoliaceae

Erect or straggling shrub, 1-2 m high.

Twigs: Shiny grayish brown, marked with four ridges, two more pronounced than the others.

Buds: Two-scaled, dark red and shiny. Newer branches are dark reddish brown with scattered light lenticels. Older bark is ashy-gray.

Leaves: Opposite, 5-8 cm long, palmately veined, usually with three uneven lobes that are coarsely and irregularly toothed. Variable in shape, sometimes like those of Highbush Cranberry. Both surfaces smooth, but undersurface sometimes has a few scattered hairs or small brown scales. May be glands on the leaf base but not on the leaf stalk. Leaves turn dark red or purplish in autumn.

Flowers: Milky white, forming a loose cluster, 4-5 cm across. All flowers in a cluster are same size and fertile. Clusters usually paired on either side of stem. Blooms fro early to late June.

Fruit: Red drupes, about 7 mm in diameter, contain a single flattened seed. Ripen by the third week of August.

Habitat: Along brooks, in wet thickets, edges of woods, damp valleys. Occurs throughout Newfoundland and north to about 58 degrees latitude in Labrador. More common that Highbush Cranberry. Not as acidic as Highbush Cranberry, but both make excellent jelly.

Source: Native Trees and Shrubs of Newfoundland and Labrador
By A. Glen Ryan
Parks and Natural Areas Division
Department of Environment and Conservation
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 1995
Used with permission.