HIGHBUSH CRANBERRY

HIGHBUSH CRANBERRY BUSH...

... PANICLES OF COMPOUND FLOWERS... 

... PERSISTANT, EDIBLE FRUIT

Wednesday, 7:45 AM,  55 degrees F at the fery dock, 52 on the back porch.  Wind NE, calm with very light gusts.  The sky is overcast and it is raining.  The humidity is 86% and the barometer is taking a nosedive, standing now at 30.25".
   Several incidental comments: the maple trees in the front yard  are now large enough after fifteen years or so from being planted to shed a lot of seed, which is all over the driveway; hummingbirds are fickle little things, as since they emptied the feeder while I was in the hospital they have left and haven't come back, even though I filled the feeder as soon as I could.
   The highbush cranberry, Viburnum americanum (AKA trilobum) is not a cranberry at all, but a member of the Honeysuckle Family (Caprifoliaceae). The true cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon, is a member of the Heath Family (Ericaceae), and is a resident of acid bogs in northern North America.   
   To make nomenclature even more confusing, many authorities consider highbush cranberry a variety of the Eurasian species, and have named it Viburnum opulous var. americanum.  Suffice it to say it is a visually ubiquitous species in the landscape when in bloom, and once one recognizes it, one will see it everywhere, on woods edges, in woods understories, roadsides, etc.
   It is a large shrub native to much of southern Canada, New England and the Midwest.  The compound flowers are large, with an outer ring of showy white,  sterile ray flowers.  The misnamed "cranberry" fruits ripen deep cherry red in October and can remain on the shrub all winter, until the next spring's flowers appear.  The berries are edible but very astringent, thus the "cranberry" description.  Although too tart to eat out of hand, they are excellent in preserves.  They also provide  late winter food for birds.
   Highbush cranberry, also called American cranberry, is an excellent shrub for landscape use, particularly in the larger yard and for naturalizing.  It does not spread as aggressively as many shrubs, has excellent floral interest and fall leaf color, and abundant, highly decorative fruit that attracts birds in late winter.