Maple-Leaved Viburnum Blooms Pink and White

Maple-leaved Viburnum, Viburnum acerifolium, started to bloom around the middle of May here in South-central PA. It’s a woody shrub that can flower from a single stalk as a young plant. When this viburnum gets a little older, it may flower profusely with clusters at the ends of each branch on the larger plants.

Clusters of maple-leaved viburnum flowers.
Clusters of maple-leaved viburnum flowers.
Flower cluster and leaf of maple-leaved viburnum.
Flower cluster and leaf of maple-leaved viburnum.

Flowers occur in flat-topped clusters at the branch tips. Leaves are similar in shape to maple tree leaves, thus giving this understory shrub its name.

Maple-like leaves in pairs.
Maple-like leaves in pairs.

Flower buds are pink to white in color, while the inner flower parts are mostly creamy white.

Pink flower buds of maple-leaved viburnum.
Pink flower buds of maple-leaved viburnum.

Pink flower buds of Maple-leaved Viburnum open up into white flowers with long stamens projecting upward. Anthers on the tips of the stamens make the flower clusters looked dotted.

A few viburnums listed in Peterson’s Edible Plant Guide are edible, but others in the Viburnum genus have bitter fruit. No medicinal qualities were noted in Peterson’s Medicinal Plants Guide.

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