Viburnum rigidum Vent.

An evergreen shrub of bushy rounded habit and rather open branching, 6 to 10 ft high and as much wide; young shoots covered with hairs. Leaves ovate or oval, toothless, pointed to rounded at the apex, wedge-shaped at the base; 2 to 6 in. long, 1 to 3 in. wide; dark dull green and roughish with appressed hairs above, paler and furnished beneath with soft grey hairs, especially on the prominent midrib and veins; margins ciliate; stalk up to 3⁄4 in. long. The inflorescence is a flattish corymb 3 to 41⁄2 in. wide, carrying numerous white flowers, each about 1⁄5 in. wide; stigma rose-coloured; main and secondary flower-stalks hairy. Fruits egg-shaped, 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 in. long, blue, finally black. Bot. Mag., t. 2082.

Native of the Canary Islands; introduced by Masson, the Kew collector, on his way home from S. Africa in 1778. This evergreen is not hardy at Kew except against a wall, but succeeds well in the southern and western maritime counties. In Cornwall it blossoms from February to April. Most nearly akin to V. tinus, it is well distinguished by its much larger, dull, very hairy leaves; nor is it so densely leafy in habit.