Photo: SB Johnny, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Possumhaw Viburnum

Viburnum nudum

Also called smooth witherod, southern wild raisin, swamphaw, Viburnum cassinoides.

A glossy-leaved viburnum for wet ground whose berries turn pink, blue and purplish black, often all at once in the same cluster.

Tolerates wet soilWildlife valueFall colorShowy flowersEdibleTolerates shade

Type: Shrub
Mature height: 5–12 ft
USDA zones: 5–9
Growth rate: Medium
Sun: Full, Part, Shade
Soil moisture: Average, Wet
Grows wild in: Floodplain forests, stream banks, the coast, swamps and wet flats
Native range: 20 states and the District of Columbia, north to New York, south to Florida and west to Texas
List all 21
Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia
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Possumhaw viburnum is a rounded, many-stemmed shrub of wet ground in the East and South. Its leaves are smoother and glossier than those of most viburnums, and its fall color is always good. It is the southern counterpart of witherod, sold by nurseries as Viburnum cassinoides, which some botanists count as a variety of the same species. Kentucky, New York and Pennsylvania list it as endangered, at the inland and northern edges of its range. Plant it by a pond or in a rain garden, where its roots stay damp and the fruit can be seen from the house.

Size, growth and what to expect

It grows at a medium pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. It makes a rounded shrub 5 to 12 feet tall and as wide. Plants up to about 20 feet.

Flat clusters of fragrant, creamy white flowers open from April to June. The fruit ripens from August to October, turning from green to pink to blue and purplish black, with every color in one cluster at once. It is acidic but edible. Songbirds, grouse, wild turkeys and squirrels eat it.

It grows wild on the coastal plain from Connecticut to Florida and Texas, and north to Arkansas and Kentucky. Its home is savannas, bogs, swamps and low, wet woods.

How to grow Possumhaw Viburnum

Possumhaw viburnum grows in full sun, part shade or shade. It does best in an acid soil that stays moist, and it takes wet, boggy ground and floods. Plant it 6 feet from a wall, and set plants 6 feet apart for a hedge or a group. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them dormant, from leaf fall until bud swell, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and keep the mulch ring clear of the stems. Pick the fruit once it turns dark blue-black and clean off the pulp. The seed needs no chilling, so sow it half an inch deep in spring. Seedlings come up within a few weeks of warm weather.

Water weekly through the first summer unless the ground stays wet. Deer browse the twigs and leaves, so cage young plants where deer are many. It needs little pruning. If it needs shaping, prune lightly in fall, since cutting after bloom removes some of the late summer fruit.

More than one shrub gives the best crop of berries, so plant two or more together. No serious pest or disease troubles it. Its leaves feed spring azure caterpillars, and NC State Extension lists it as a possible host of the hummingbird clearwing moths.

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

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