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Viburnum utile Hemsl.

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Viburnum utile' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/viburnum/viburnum-utile/). Accessed 2024-09-07.

Glossary

calyx
(pl. calyces) Outer whorl of the perianth. Composed of several sepals.
apex
(pl. apices) Tip. apical At the apex.
entire
With an unbroken margin.
glabrous
Lacking hairs smooth. glabrescent Becoming hairless.
inflorescence
Flower-bearing part of a plant; arrangement of flowers on the floral axis.
ovate
Egg-shaped; broadest towards the stem.

References

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Credits

Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles

Recommended citation
'Viburnum utile' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/viburnum/viburnum-utile/). Accessed 2024-09-07.

Viburnum utile

Viburnum utile just starting to flower at York Gate Harden, Leeds, UK, late April 2024. Image John Grimshaw.

An evergreen shrub of rather thin, open habit, 5 or 6 ft high, the slender branches clothed at first with a pale, starry down. Leaves usually narrowly ovate or nearly oblong, 1 to 3 in. long, 1⁄4 to 11⁄4 in. wide, of firm texture, glabrous and dark glossy green above, prominently veined and white beneath, with a dense covering of starry down, margins entire, apex tapered but bluntish; base rounded to wedge-shaped; stalk 1⁄6 to 1⁄3 in. long. Flowers all fertile, produced during May densely packed in terminal, rounded trusses, 3 in. across, the branches of the inflorescence stellately downy. Each flower is 1⁄3 in. wide, white. Calyx glabrous, with shallow, rounded lobes. Fruits blue-black, oval, 1⁄4 in. long. Bot. Mag., t. 8174.

Native of China; introduced in 1901 by Wilson. It has proved quite hardy since its introduction, and is a pretty, graceful shrub. According to Wilson, it grows on limestone. Award of Merit 1926.

Viburnum utile

Abundant inflorescences on Viburnum utile at York Gate Harden, Leeds, UK, late April 2024. Image John Grimshaw.

Viburnum utile

Viburnum utile foliage and fertile specimen, from a plant at the Morris Arboretum, Pennsylvania (20 August 2012). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

Viburnum utile

Foliage on Viburnum utile, the leaves with the lamina elliptic and a whitish lower surface, from a plant at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK (31 July 2012). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

Viburnum utile

Here the foliage on Viburnum utile shows leaves with more elongated lamina (Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK – 31 July 2012). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

Viburnum utile

The Viburnum utile lamina upper surface is glossy, with the tertiary veins not prominent (Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK – 31 July 2012). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

Viburnum utile

Densely stellate-pubescent lamina lower surface, with the veins visible on Viburnum utile (Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, UK – 31 July 2012). Image © Jan De Langhe - Arboretum Wespelaar.

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