Northern Arrowwood These
plants have dark green, oval deciduous leaves which
grow opposite each other on the stem. The tips of
the leaves are pointed and the bottoms are rounded
or heartshaped. The leaves are about 4 inches long
and 3 inches across. Northern Arrowwood is
different from other viburnums because its leaves
have big spiky edges, but its surface is
smooth. It has
small white to pink flowers in flat-topped clusters
about 4 inches across. The plant blooms from May to
June. The leaves and flowers grow on the top of
long shoots. The fruits
of the arrowwood are fleshy and blue-black in color
about 1/2 inch across. They are a favorite food of
Ruffed Grouse and chipmunks. Deer love to eat the
leaves and stems. The shoots were once used by
Native Americans for arrow shafts. The Northern Arrowwood is usually found in the decidouos biome. It grows from New Brunswick and southern Ontario, to south-east New York, northern Ohio and Michigan. It prefers wetland areas along rivers, streams and lakes. by Robin B. 2000.
bibliography: Petrides, George A. (1972). A Field Guide to Wild Flowers. Boston, MA, Houghton Mifflin Company. "Midwestern Wetland Flora", http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/othrdata/plntguid/species/vibureco.htm Photo credit: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/index.htm |