''Viburnum rufidulum'', also known as the rusty blackhaw, blue haw, rusty nanny-berry, or southern black haw, is a flowering species of

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

or small tree that is common in parts of the Eastern and Central United States. It produces attractive flowers and fall foliage, as well as fruits that are popular with some species of bird.

Description

Leathery deciduous

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are simple and grow in opposite blades ranging from 0.5-3 inches in length and 1-1.5 inches in width. Petioles are "rusty hairy" with grooves and sometimes wings. Leaf margins are serrate. Autumn leaf colors are bronze to red. Twigs range in color from "reddish brown to gray"; young twigs are hairy, and get smoother with age. Bark is similar that of the flowering dogwood, ranging in color from "reddish brown to almost black" and forming "blocky plates on larger trunks". ''Viburnum rufidulum'' blooms in April to May with creamy white flowers that are bisexual, or perfect and similar to those of other ''

Viburnum ''Viburnum'' is a genus of about 150–175 species of flowering plants in the moschatel family Adoxaceae. Its current classification is based on molecular phylogeny. It was previously included in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. The membe ...

'' species, but with clusters as large as six inches wide. The fruits are purple or dark blue,

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

globose A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is the ce ...

or ellipsoid

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

s that mature in mid to late summer. The edible fruit has been said to taste like raisins and attract birds. It is similar to '' Viburnum prunifolium'' (blackhaw). Petioles of ''V. prunifolium'' do not have the rusty hairs that those of ''V. rufidulum'' do.

Distribution

The rusty blackhaw prefers dry habitats with elevations generally below 750 m. It grows in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Uses

It is occasionally used as an ornamental plant.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7924704 rufidulum Flora of the United States Plants described in 1838 Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque