View source for Viburnum prunifolium

{{SPlantbox
|familia=Adoxaceae
|genus=Viburnum
|species=prunifolium
|common_name=Black haw, Blackhaw
|Min ht metric=cm
|Temp Metric=°F
|image=Viburnum prunifolium USDA2.jpg
|image_width=240
|image_caption=Flowers
}}
'''''Viburnum  prunifolium''''' ('''Blackhaw''', also spelled '''Black haw''', '''Blackhaw Viburnum''', or '''Stag Bush'''), is a species of ''[[Viburnum]]'' native to southeastern [[North America]], from [[Connecticut]] west to eastern [[Kansas]], and south to [[Alabama]] and [[Texas]].<ref name=grin>Germplasm Resources Information Network: [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?41408 ''Viburnum prunifolium'']</ref>

It is a [[deciduous]] [[shrub]] or small [[tree]] growing to 2–9 m tall with a short crooked trunk and stout spreading branches; in the northern parts of its range, it is a shrub, becoming a small tree in the southern parts of its range. The [[bark]] is reddish-brown, very rough on old stems. The branchlets are red at first, then green, finally dark brown tinged with red. The winter [[bud]]s are coated with [[rusty]] [[tomentum]]. The flower buds ovate, 1&nbsp;cm long, much larger than the axillary buds. The [[leaf|leaves]] are simple, up to 9&nbsp;cm long and 6&nbsp;cm broad, oval, ovate or orbicular, wedge-shaped or rounded at base, serrate, acute, with serrated edges with a grooved and slightly winged red petiole 1.5&nbsp;cm long; they turn red in fall. The leaves are superficially similar to some species of ''[[Prunus]]'' (thus "''prunifolium''"); they come out of the bud involute, shining, green, tinged with red, sometimes smooth, or clothed with rusty tomentum; when full grown dark green and smooth above, pale, smooth or tomentose beneath.<ref name=missouriplants>Missouriplants: [http://www.missouriplants.com/Whiteopp/Viburnum_prunifolium_page.html ''Viburnum prunifolium'']</ref><ref name=encyclopedia>{{cite book|pages=279|title=The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants: A practical reference guide to more than 550 key medicinal plants and their uses|author=Andrew Chevallier|year=1996|publisher=Reader's Digest|id=ISBN 0-88850-546-9}}</ref><ref name=Keeler>{{cite book | last =Keeler | first =H. L. | title =Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them | publisher =Charles Scriber's Sons | date =1900 | location =New York | pages =184 }}</ref><ref name=Castleman>{{cite book|title=The Healing Herbs|author=Michael Castleman|pages=79-81|publisher=Rodale Press|year=1991|id=ISBN 0-87858-934-6}}</ref>

The [[flower]]s are creamy white, 9&nbsp;mm diameter; the calyx is urn-shaped, five-toothed, persistent; the [[corolla (flower)|corolla]] is five-lobed, with rounded lobes, imbricate in bud; the five stamens alternate with the corolla lobes, the filaments slender, the anthers pale yellow, oblong, two-celled, the cells opening longitudinally; the ovary is inferior, one-celled, with a thick, pale green style and a flat stigma and a single ovule. The flowers are borne in flat-topped cymes 10&nbsp;cm in diameter in mid to late spring. The [[fruit]] is a [[drupe]] 1&nbsp;cm long, dark blue-black with glaucous bloom, hangs until winter, becomes edible after being frosted, then eaten by birds; the stone is flat and even, broadly oval. Wherever it lives, black haw prefers sunny [[woodland]] with well-drained soil and adequate water.<ref name=missouriplants/><ref name=encyclopedia/><ref name=Keeler/><ref name=Castleman/>

{{Inc|
Viburnum prunifolium, Linn. (V. pyrifolium, Poir.). Black Haw. Stag-bush. Shrub or small tree, attaining 15 ft., with spreading, rather stout branches: winter buds short-pointed, glabrous or reddish, pubescent: lvs. broadly oval to ovate, acute, or obtuse, glabrous or nearly so, 1-3 in. long; petioles often with narrow margin, glabrous: fls. pure white: cymes sessile, 2-4 in. broad: fr. oval to subglobose, bluish black and glaucous, little over 1/3 in. long. April-June. Conn. to Fla., west to Mich. and Texas. A.F. 12:1100. Gng. 5:310. M.D.G. 1901:628. F.E. 17:701.
}}