Arrow-wood

We looked at Arrow-wood, Viburnum dentatum, a few months ago when it was in flower. Those flowers have done their jobs nicely, haven't they? :-)


From A Year Among The Trees:

"Among the several species which I shall not attempt to describe, one of the most common and familiar is the Arrow-Wood, so called from the general employment of its long, straight, and slender branches by the Indians for the manufacture of their arrows. This tree seldom rises above eight or ten feet in height, and is more common in the borders of fields which are low and wet than any other species. Its fruit is of a bluish slate- color. These peculiar shrubs are often seen in the damp forest, and in the borders of wood-paths, bearing conspicuous fruit and tempting us to gather and eat, while we refrain on account of the suspicions we naturally feel when we discover the fruit of a strange plant."





Flagg, Wilson. A Year Among The Trees. Boston, 1881. 187. Web Google Book Search. 20 Sep 2009.