How do you recognise Guelder rose (Viburnum opulus)?

Leaf

Hladac, Wikimedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Guelder rose

Viburnum opulus L.

Also known as: Snowball tree, European cranberry bush, Water elder

Family: Adoxaceae

2 to 4 m tall

Damp hedges, woodland edges, ditch banks

Flowering: May – June

Full sun

Part shade

Very hardy, to -20°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

A 3-lobed leaf like a maple, but opposite on the twig — maple leaves are opposite too, but the viburnum has no milky sap. Guelder rose has 3-lobed leaves, like a maple leaf, very different from the ovate, simply toothed and crinkled leaves of wayfaring tree.

🍃 Leaves

Opposite, with 3 pointed lobes, resembling a maple leaf

🌸 Flowers

Flat corymb surrounded by large decorative white sterile flowers

🍎 Fruits

Bright red translucent berries in hanging clusters

🪵 Bark

Grey, visible lenticels

🗺️ Distribution

Europe, western Asia; common in damp hedges and woodland edges throughout France.

🐝 Value for pollinators

White flowers in umbels with attractive peripheral sterile flowers, heavily visited by bees and hoverflies.

✂️ Horticultural uses

Planted in informal hedges or borders, appreciated for its decorative bright red fruits and colourful autumn foliage.

⚠️ Possible toxicity

Raw fruits slightly toxic if ingested (digestive upset), traditionally eaten cooked as jam in some regions.

🌱 Known cultivars

Roseum (snowball)

The best-known guelder rose viburnum: its flowers all gather into large sterile white balls, hence its nickname "snowball"; unlike the species, it does not produce berries.