Nature · Shrubs

Wayfaring tree

Native · flowers May–Jun · chalk and limestone hedges and scrub

Viburnum lantana — Adoxaceae

A shrub of chalk and limestone hedgerows and scrub, with wrinkled, grey-felted oval leaves, flat creamy flowerheads in late spring, and berries that turn from red to black. Herbalist John Gerard gave it its name in 1597 for growing beside the roads of southern England.

How to spot them

▸Large, oval, slightly wrinkled leaves with round-toothed edges, densely covered beneath in soft grey hairs, in opposite pairs
▸Flat-topped, scented umbels of many small, identical, five-petalled cream flowers
▸Flattened oval berries that ripen from red to black, both colours often on the same cluster
▸Pale yellow-green buds, opposite, pressed against a slightly hairy twig
▸Look-alike: guelder rose has lobed maple-like leaves and a flowerhead ringed by larger sterile flowers; wayfaring tree's flowers are all the same size

How to know it

Wrinkled oval leaves felted with soft grey hairs beneath, on a chalk hedge shrub whose berries turn from red to black

Wayfaring tree.

Herbalist John Gerard gave it its name in 1597 after seeing it on the road between Wiltshire and London

Wayfaring tree — it was said that if you see one you are on or near a path.

Arrows found with the 'Iceman' who died in the Alps around 4,000–3,500 BC were reportedly made from its long, straight stems

Wayfaring tree (Woodland Trust).

Its strong bendy stems were used to tie hay bales

Wayfaring tree.

A viburnum with undivided leaves and flat umbels in which all the flowers are the same size

Wayfaring tree, unlike guelder rose which has a ring of larger sterile florets.

Red and black berries can be seen together on this shrub, and they are poisonous

Wayfaring tree.

Quick-fire facts

•Viburnum lantana, family Adoxaceae; a shrub to about 5 m (Woodland Trust)
•Name coined by John Gerard in 1597, who noticed it on routes between Wiltshire and London; 'if you see a wayfaring tree you are on or near a path'
•TOXICITY: Woodland Trust states the berries are poisonous; do not eat them
•Berries start red and turn black, and both colours are often seen together
•Leaves are covered on the underside with dense grey hairs; the whole plant has a mealy look, a good field mark
•The stems were used to tie hay bales, and are strong, straight and rigid enough for arrow shafts — Woodland Trust cites arrows in the quiver of the Alpine Iceman found in 1991
•Insects such as hoverflies feed on the nectar, birds eat the berries, and several moth species feed on the leaves
•Chiefly a plant of calcareous soils in southern England, so a marker of chalk hedgerows and one of the species counted in Hooper's rule

Drill it — 6 cards

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Sources

Woodland Trust — Wayfaring tree (Viburnum lantana)