# American Cranberrybush (Viburnum opulus var. americanum)

> American cranberrybush, Viburnum opulus var. americanum: its height and zones, when it flowers and fruits, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/american-cranberrybush/

![Drooping clusters of glossy red American cranberrybush fruit under three-lobed leaves turning purple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/american-cranberrybush-1000.jpg?v=67218977 "American cranberrybush in fruit at Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area, Quebec, on September 23, 2017. The fruit ripens from August to October and hangs on all winter.")
*Photo: Cephas, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AViburnum_trilobum_CT_03.jpg))*

Shrub, 6 to 16 feet, zones 2 to 7; full sun, part shade or shade; average or wet ground.

We do not grow American cranberrybush, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | American Cranberrybush |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Highbush cranberry, American highbush cranberry, American cranberrybush viburnum, cranberry viburnum, crampbark, Viburnum trilobum |
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, feet | 6 to 16 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 12 |
| Zones | 2 to 7 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Average or wet ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Showy flowers, fall color, wildlife value, edible, bears young, hedge or screen, salt tolerant, winter interest, erosion control |
| Flowers | May to July |
| Fruit | Drupes, August to May |
| First crop | 3 to 5 years (about 5 by the University of Maine) |
| Pollination | Not known whether one bears alone |
| Planting season | Fall or spring. Its one source speaks of moving an established shrub, prepared in spring and moved that fall or the following spring. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes, stream banks, swamps and wet flats |
| Native in | 23 states |

American cranberrybush is native in 23 states: [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Idaho](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ID), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Montana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MT), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Washington](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WY). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE) and [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=american-cranberrybush): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=american-cranberrybush): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=american-cranberrybush&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=american-cranberrybush): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=american-cranberrybush): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=american-cranberrybush): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=american-cranberrybush): the seed sowing planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=american-cranberrybush): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its height](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=american-cranberrybush): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores by the champion-tree formula](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=american-cranberrybush): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Canada Yew](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/canada-yew/index.html.md) (*Taxus canadensis*): shrub, 3 to 6 feet, zones 2 to 7. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Wild Black Currant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/wild-black-currant/index.html.md) (*Ribes americanum*): shrub, 3 to 6 feet, zones 3 to 7. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Pinxterbloom Azalea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/pinxterbloom-azalea/index.html.md) (*Rhododendron periclymenoides*): shrub, 3 to 6 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Red Osier Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-osier-dogwood/index.html.md) (*Cornus sericea*): shrub, 6 to 12 feet, zones 2 to 7. Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Squashberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/squashberry/index.html.md) (*Viburnum edule*): shrub, 2 to 7 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares stream banks, swamps and wet flats in the wild.
- [Arrowwood Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/arrowwood-viburnum/index.html.md) (*Viburnum dentatum*): shrub, 5 to 10 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares rich moist slopes and stream banks in the wild.
- [Every companion of American cranberrybush in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=american-cranberrybush)

## Read from

Its figures come from NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the University of Connecticut's plant database, the University of Maine's extension, the USDA PLANTS Database and Cornell University.