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Resources < Wildlife Habitats < Native Plants < Native Plant Database < Viburnum acerifolium
Mapleleaf viburnum makes an excellent addition to the backyard wildlife habitat. In late spring, airy, creamy flower clusters provide nectar for butterflies, and in fall and winter, small, juicy drupes feed bluebirds, cardinals, cedar waxwings, great crested flycatchers, and brown thrashers. Flowers, leaves, and immature fruits nourish the larvae of spring azure butterflies.
Mapleleaf viburnum offers great aesthetic appeal, too. The flowers are delicate, resembling old lace, and the shiny, plump fruits are striking as they ripen from blush pink to deep purplish black. This shrub’s fall color display is a wonder to behold: Even in heavy shade, the lovely maple-shaped leaves turn pink, rose, and purple. Mapleleaf viburnum’s compact size is another of its assets, especially in a small garden; my plants are six years old and they’ve never gotten any taller than thigh-high.
Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle Family)
A small deciduous shrub featuring three-inch, three-lobed leaves with toothed edges. Three-inch, flat-topped clusters of tiny white flowers appear in May. Small egg-shaped drupes ripen in fall and often persist into winter.
3 to 5 feet high and wide.
Low, upright, and sparsely branched. Spreads slowly to form colonies.
Slow to moderate.
Full to part shade.
Plant in moist to dry, well-drained soil that is slightly acidic.
Assets include lacy spring flowers, maple-like leaves that turn rosy in fall, and fall fruits that ripen from red to black.
Excellent in a mixed shrub border or woodland garden. Mass plantings are particularly effective, especially when the leaves color in fall.
Provides cover; fruits are eaten by songbirds.
Found in dry rocky woods throughout Georgia.
Cuttings, seed, grafting.
Text and photo by Leslie Kimel, Georgia Wildlife Federation
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