Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
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'Viburnum tinus' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
A dense-habited, much-branched evergreen shrub of rounded form, 6 to 12 ft high, often more in diameter, and furnished to the ground; young shoots smooth, or slightly hairy. Leaves not toothed, narrowly ovate, approaching oblong, tapered at both ends, 11⁄2 to 4 in. long, 3⁄4 to 11⁄2 in. wide, dark glossy green above, paler beneath, and with tufts of down in the lower vein-axils; stalk 1⁄3 to 3⁄4 in. long, often more or less hairy. Flowers white, about 1⁄4 in. across, uniform and perfect, produced in winter and spring in terminal cymes 2 to 4 in. across. Fruits ovoid, tapering towards the top, 1⁄4 in. long, deep blue, finally black.
Native of S. Europe, mainly in the Mediterranean region, and of N. Africa, occurring in the more luxuriant type of macchia vegetation with bay laurel, myrtle, phillyrea, Rhamnus alaternus, etc., or as undergrowth in woodland. It has been cultivated in Britain since the 16th century. In southern gardens the laurustinus is one of the most useful of evergreen shrubs, forming rich masses of greenery and opening its flowers any time between November and April, according to the weather. It will thrive in moderate shade, but flowers more freely in full sun. The fruits, indigo-blue, ultimately black, are not frequently seen with us, though often enough for it to escape from gardens in some places. From all other cultivated hardy viburnums this is distinguished by its luxuriant masses of entire, evergreen leaves.
V. tinus is a very variable species in the size and shape of its leaves, in the presence or absence of hairs from the young growths, petioles and the undersides and margins of the leaves, as well as in the size and density of the inflorescence. But the variations do not seem to be well correlated on wild plants, which may explain why in recent times botanists have not troubled to inventorise all the character-combinations that occur. However, forms with large leaves and inflorescences appear to be commonest in N. Africa. Some are very striking, judging from herbarium specimens, and seem to be really nearer to V. rigidum of the Canary Islands or the Azores subspecies of V. tinus than to V. tinus as it exists on the northern shores of the Mediterranean or in the Adriatic. No doubt there are also physiological variations, some races being adapted to the Mediterranean type of climate, others needing moister conditions and perhaps nearer to V. tinus as it existed in earlier epochs, when the climate of the Mediterranean region was rainier than it has been since the Ice Age.
Many forms of V. tinus have been selected in gardens, of which the following are the most important:
Synonyms / alternative names
Bean treated this variety as f. hirtum.
Shoots, leaf-stalks and bases of the leaves clothed with bristly hairs. Leaves larger than normal and of a different shape, being as much as 3 to 4 in. long and 2 in. wide, rounded or even slightly heart-shaped at the base, and once grown for early flowering in cool greenhouses. The provenance of this form, described in previous editions, is unknown, but a similar plant received an Award of Merit when shown from Highdown in 1939; this was raised from seeds collected by E. A. Bowles in Algeria.The laurustinus grown in gardens early in the 19th century as var. hirtum, which was probably the var. hirtum of Aiton and the var. hirsutum of Weston, had hairy foliage but the leaves were of normal size and it was hardy.