British Native Trees
and Shrubs

Guelder-Rose Viburnum opulus (Caprifoliaceae)

Lovely lacecap flowers are but one of the pleasures of this vigorous deciduous shrub, for they are followed by a heavy crop of brilliant scarlet fruit and tinted foliage. Rarely more than 4 m, usually half that height, it is spreading and bushy in habit with smooth, slightly angular, greenish twigs and branches which later become reddish-brown. The opposite pairs of young, maple-like leaves soon shed their downy covering, expanding to up to 8 cm across with three to five irregularly-toothed lobes. The leaves turn to shades of russet and orange or yellow before falling in late autumn. In June and July the curious, flat-topped clusters of flowers appear at the tips of branches, up to 8 cm across and composed of an outer circle of showy, pure-white sterile flowers surrounding a central group of small, tubular, creamy-white fertile flowers. By September and October the bush appears to drip with loose, hanging clusters of one-seeded, translucent red berries which often remain until leaf-fall.

Guelder rose is found on woodland margins and in hedgerows, scrub and marshes, on moist, moderately acid or alkaline soils throughout England.

It is a superb shrub, providing beauty in return for very little effort. Suitable for the shrub border, the woodland corner, a damp hollow, a hedge, or simply as a stand-alone shrub, it grows in sun or semi-shade, although it requires sun to flower and fruit well. It thrives on most moist but well-drained soils except the most acid, and in cultivation tolerates drier, sandy garden soils. It regenerates well after cutting and can be trimmed to shape. It can send out suckers from the roots and colonise open ground if given the chance. Propagation is as for the wayfaring-tree, although guelder-rose does not germinate as readily.

The plant is an important resource for wildlife. The nectar in the flowers is attractive to hoverflies and the berries, though slightly poisonous to people, are a good, pre-winter food source for birds.

Page last updated - January 10, 2002  

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