European Snowball Viburnum, Guelder Rose               vi-BER-num OP-u-lus

• Deciduous shrub, 10-12 ft (3-3.7 m); dense mound, upright, spreading, arching branches.  Leaves opposite, 5-10 cm long, as wide or wider, pointed lobes (maple-like), glossy dark green in summer, may turn reddish in fall, a few disk-like glands on grooved petiole.  Showy flowers sterile, in sphere-like clusters, 6.5-7.5 cm diam., which cover plant in May, initially white-green, then white, and some pink ("rose", hence ‘Roseum’) develops when flowers senesce.  Since flowers are sterile, no fruit is formed.
• Sun to part shade, susceptible to aphids.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 4      Cultivated since the 16th century.
• Oregon State Univ. campus: west side of Black Cultural Center on Monroe.