Guelder rose

Guelder rose (Viburnum opulus) is a deciduous shrub that’s part of the Adoxaceae (moschatel) family and native to Europe, North Africa and Central Asia. Its name originates in the Dutch region of Gelderland. Other names include snowball tree, water elder, dogberry, European cranberry bush and cramp bark.

Similar in appearance to field maple, guelder rose has a lifespan of 25-50 years and can reach 4-5m in height while spreading 2-5m outwards. You can identify it by its:

- Broad, three-lobed leaves of 5-10cm with serrated edges

- Creamy white or pink flowers that appear from May to July

- Bunches of bright, round, red berries (7-10mm) in autumn

- Smooth, green-brown bark

Guelder rose leaves appear from May and turn red or orange-yellow in autumn. Its berries are mildly toxic when raw but used in cooking to make jams and jellies. Its bark is claimed to cure cramp (‘cramp bark’).

Wildlife-wise, the berries provide food for birds including bullfinches, blackbirds and mistle thrushes, which eat the berries and disperse the seeds in droppings. Meanwhile the flowers attract hoverflies and the canopy houses various insects and other beasties, including the Viburnum beetle that’s known for hungrily defoliating guelder rose shrub

Soil-wise, Viburnum opulus is tolerant but prefers it moist and slightly alkaline.

The presence of guelder rose suggests ancient woodland – undisturbed woodland old enough to have evolved its own community and that provides habitat for threatened species.

Our ‘biodiversity mix’ of hedgerow for planting includes guelder rose.

Images: tree and leaves/fruit by Wouter Hagens (own work); bud by Wikimedia Images; flowers by H. Zell (own work) CC BY-SA 3.0

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