# Rusty Blackhaw (Viburnum rufidulum)

> Glossy, leathery leaves that turn deep red in fall, white flower clusters in spring and sweet blue fruit, on a small southern tree.

Also called southern black haw, rusty nannyberry, bluehaw. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/rusty-blackhaw/

![Rusty blackhaw (Viburnum rufidulum) rounded cluster of white flowers among glossy leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/rusty-blackhaw-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, CC BY-SA 4.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AViburnum_rufidulum_kz2.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Small tree
- Mature height: 10 to 20 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 9
- Grows wild in: Dry uplands, rocky ground, stream banks, old fields and edges
- Native range: 18 states, north to Ohio, south to Florida and west to Texas (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia)
- Sun: Full, Part
- Soil moisture: Average, Dry
- Growth rate: Slow
- Traits: Showy flowers, Fall color, Edible, Wildlife value, Drought tolerant, Bears young
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

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

## Availability

Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed.

## Notes

Rusty blackhaw is the southern counterpart of blackhaw, a suckering shrub or small tree named for the rust-red hairs on its buds, leaf stalks and leaf veins. Its thick, glossy leaves set it apart from the dull leaves of blackhaw, and they are a little larger. Where their ranges meet, the two cross. Its low flammability suits it to the planting zone around a house in fire country. Grow it as a small tree at a patio corner or in a mixed screen, where the fall color can be seen from the house.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Rusty blackhaw grows slowly, about a foot a year in our growth estimator. It makes a small tree or large shrub 10 to 20 feet tall and as wide. Trees up to about 30 feet.

Rounded clusters of small white flowers up to 5 inches across open from March in the South to May in the North. The fruit ripens dark blue in September and October, an oval about three eighths of an inch long, sweet and mealy. Cardinals, cedar waxwings, robins, grouse and turkeys eat it. Deer, chipmunks and squirrels take it too. The leaves turn deep purple to bright red in fall.

It grows wild from Virginia to Florida and west to Kansas and Texas. Its home is dry, rocky woods, thickets, stream banks, glade edges and bluffs.

## How to grow Rusty Blackhaw

Rusty blackhaw takes full sun or part shade, and it grows denser in sun. It wants a well-drained soil, dry to moist, and it takes clay, sand and limestone. Once rooted it rides out drought. Plant it 15 feet from a wall and 15 feet from overhead wires, since some trees pass 20 feet. Set trees 10 feet apart for a screen.

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 spread mulch over the roots, clear of the trunk. Seed needs 6 to 17 months of warm, damp conditions and then 3 to 4 months of cold. Sow cleaned seed outdoors in late fall, an inch deep, under wire against mice. Seedlings come up the second spring, about 14 months after sowing.

Water deeply through the first two summers in dry weather, then only in long droughts. A mulch helps it hold moisture. Deer browse it only moderately, but cage young trees for two winters where deer or rabbits are many. It flowers on old wood, so prune right after bloom. Pull root suckers unless you want a thicket.

A good crop of fruit needs a second tree nearby, so plant two or more. Seedlings start to bear at about 5 years. No serious pest or disease troubles it, though the viburnum leaf beetle can chew the leaves.

## Sources

- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Viburnum rufidulum](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/viburnum-rufidulum/)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Viburnum rufidulum](https://plantfinder.mobot.org/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=278962)
- [Missouri Department of Conservation Field Guide: Southern Black Haw (Rusty Nannyberry)](https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/southern-black-haw-rusty-nannyberry)
- [Missouri Department of Conservation Field Guide: Black Haw](https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/black-haw)
- [The Morton Arboretum: Southern black-haw](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/southern-black-haw/)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Viburnum rufidulum](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=VIRU)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: rusty blackhaw](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=353)
- [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society): Viburnum rufidulum, from Bean](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/viburnum/viburnum-rufidulum/)
- [Florida Native Plant Society: Viburnum rufidulum](https://www.fnps.org/plant/viburnum-rufidulum)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual (2008), Viburnum chapter](https://rngr.net/publications/wpsm/genera/v/at_download/file)
- [Native Plant Network, Janet Grabowski, USDA NRCS Jamie L. Whitten Plant Materials Center, 2001: Viburnum rufidulum](https://npn.rngr.net/renderNPNProtocolDetails?selectedProtocolIds=caprifoliaceae-viburnum-401)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Viburnum rufidulum](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.159679/Viburnum_rufidulum)
- [Ohio Department of Natural Resources: Rare Native Ohio Plants, 2024-25 Status List](https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/odnr/natural-areas/2024-25_Ohio_Rare_Native_Plants_Status_List_FINAL_draft.pdf)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Multistem or single stem? Sometimes the trunk is hiding the answer](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/multistem-or-single-stem/index.html.md)
- [Leaf litter, not wood chips, under the canopy](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/leaf-litter-not-wood-chips/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md)

## Related

- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Rusty Blackhaw, add ?species=rusty-blackhaw with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=rusty-blackhaw&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average.
- [Companion species for Rusty Blackhaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=rusty-blackhaw): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=rusty-blackhaw
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Rusty Blackhaw is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=rusty-blackhaw
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Rusty Blackhaw needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=rusty-blackhaw:2
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Rusty Blackhaw flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.