Withe-rod
Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated March 2018.
Scientific name: Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides (L.) Torr. & A. Gray; old Viburnum cassinoides
Common name(s): withe-rod, witherod viburnum, wild raisin, northern wild raisin, possumhaw
Link(s): USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany
Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)
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- edge of blueberry field
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- flower buds
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- flowering, late June
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- leaf arrangement
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- characteristic buds
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- flower detail
Description:
-Large, rounded shrub
-grows up to 30′ tall
-young shoots covered with rust-colored scales with long buds adhering to stem
-Leaves are
- opposite
- dark green and shiny above, paler below with minute brown scales
- oval, sometimes toothed and wider above the middle
- thick
- 2″-4″ long and comes to an abrupt point
- Leaves grow in pairs with upper leaves pointing upward.
- Showy flat-topped
-white flower stalks have minute brown dots
-flowers with five parts and form at top of plant
-Fruit is bluish black with white powder
– two varieties in New England – var. cassinoides and var. nudum, which is known from CT and is of conservation concern
– may be confused with V. lentago; see left sidebar on Go Botany webpage
Habitat:
-Prefers wet habitats
-forests
-swamps
Sources:
Go Botany. “Viburnum Nudum L.” Viburnum Nudum (Withe-Rod): Go Botany, 2021, gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/viburnum/nudum/.