Caprifoliaceae: Viburnum lantanoides Marsh.
(hobblebush, mooseberry)
Recently used synonym: Viburnum alnifolium Marsh.
Hobblebush is a shrub between 1 and 2 m tall found growing in shaded, moist woods and ravines. The name hobble-bush is attributed to the habit of the stem to bend over and take root, hobbling passers-by. Leaves are pinnately veined and heart-shaped with fine serrations around the margins, and a distinct sharp tip. Leaf veins below are covered in rust coloured hairs. Flowers form a flat cyme or head of small regular inner flowers, and large, sterile white corollas forming an outer border. As insects do not have good eyesight the large outer flowers act as a guide to the inner, nectar-producing central flowers. Winter buds are naked. The fruit is a drupe, red in colour changing to blue. Flowering time is May, June. This shrub can be found in many locations in Digby County, and north to Cape Breton, but is uncommon in southwestern counties. Hobblebush occurs from Ontario eastward but not in Newfoundland, and south in the eastern U.S. to North Carolina; it is extirpated or imperilled in several states, imperilled in P.E.I.
Sources | Selected Web Resources| Line Drawing
Click on images for larger versions.
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April 21, 2006. Cumberland County: Wentworth Park Photographer: Wayne Garland. |
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May 20, 2003 and May 29, 2004. Halifax County: Indian Path Common, by embankment of a ravine by a stream. Photographer: Ocotillo. |
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June 9, 2006. Halifax County: Halifax, on campus of Mount Saint Vincent University. Photographer: JackPine. |
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Leaf upper surface; leaf is approximately 5 cm length (not including petiole). |
Leaf lower surface; note thin parallel veins crossing the main pinnate veins. |
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Aug. 29, 2009. Halifax County: Purcell's Cove Conservation Lands Photographer: JackPine. |
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Sep. 19, 2007. Halifax County: Halifax, in deciduous forest on steep slope adjacent to Herring Cove Road in vicinity of Roach's Pond. Photographer: JackPine. |
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 Bar is 1 cm. | 
Bar is 2 cm. |
Stem with raised, horizontal, rusty red lenticels. The stem is approximately 3 cm diameter. | |
Selected Web Resources
- Taxonomic Status (ITIS) Copy the species name above and paste it into a form on this ITIS Canada page to confirm the nomenclature and list synonyms.
- NatureServe Explorer Copy the species name above and paste it into a form on this page to view a map of its distribution within North America and its conservation status by province and state.
Page posted 29 Oct. 2007. Modified 29 Aug. 2009.
Copyright © Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society & Photographers