A sea of green ranging from lime, deep green hemlock, balsam, and fir, a few splashes of crimson, pale yellow birch, moose maple, ash, and beech fading to ochre, characterize the trees in a healthy late summer forest. The discerning eye will experience a sense of being ‘betwixt and between’- the forest is a complex living organism that is heralding the coming of autumn. Every species tells the same story in his/her own way. All we have to do is to pay attention. The whole forest is seeding up – there is a quality of silence that permeates the air this time of year… For me at least, this quiet emanates presence, not absence. The forest is preparing for the future…

Labor Day weekend, I visited some of my favorite forest haunts, places so familiar, so dear to my heart that they seem part of me. And yet there are always endless surprises. Hobblebush being one. This wild Viburnum  (Viburnum lantanoides) is a harbinger of spring and fall. In May the early blooming shrub startles me with its large pearl white clusters appearing at the forest edges. This is a remarkable plant, seeking the shade of the understory it is often found in abundance under hemlocks. These clusters are actually clones that develop from underground roots of a single bush (many wild viburnum species form their own clonal thickets).

With its large deep green oval – heart-shaped leaves and low-growing habit, the bush spreads over moist (but not waterlogged) forest floor. The shrub ranges from Nova Scotia to Michigan and south to the mountains of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. It prefers cool, moist habitat.

Maine has seven viburnum species (and four subspecies) that comprise an important portion of our forests’ understory. Generally, the viburnums range from three to eight feet in height with loose branching and slender stems. Hobblebush branches extend outward, arch, and descend, re-rooting where they touch the ground. This curious tangling habit is what gives this viburnum its common name. This characteristic is most evident in winter when the hobblebush is leafless and the shrub’s skeletal structure is highlighted.

Hobblebush is easy to identify at any time of the year. It is one of the earliest shrubs to flower in spring as already mentioned; buds open around the same time as red maples begin to flower and the poplars are shedding catkins. Hobblebush blooms can persist for several weeks at least, from early May, sometimes into June depending upon location. Their flowers look like creamy saucers and attract many pollinators, bees, butterflies, moths, beetles, and wasps, among others. The large showy flowers along the edge of the cluster are sterile while the small inner flowers have both male and female parts.

The flowers, although fragrant, do not produce much nectar, but ruby-throated hummingbirds and the beguiling clearwing or hummingbird moth visit hobblebush flowers frequently. The hummingbird moth larva is a hornworm caterpillar that feeds on viburnum leaves.

It seems to me that a pearled light (like that of a white moon) has been extinguished in the forest when the hobblebush drops her petals in the spring, but the leaf display that follows is spectacular.

The size and breadth of the hobblebush’s somewhat heart-shaped leaves make the shrub seem leafier than it is. Each leaf is deeply veined and in the forest, most grow low to the ground. The fruits are formed by mid-summer, appearing as bright green clusters. Each fruit contains one seed. By late August, the clusters have turned crimson, startling me with their brilliance. Although they are still unripe, some forest creatures break open the fruits and eat the seeds. When autumn arrives, the berries ripen, turning a deep blue-black or purple. Try the fruits – you might find them quite tasty!

Even before the berries are ripe some leaves begin to blush a warm burgundy. A few turn orange or yellow. Bare winter branches look fawn-brown and are radiant when set against a background of dark conifers in the deepest shade.

Hobblebush’s winter buds make the greatest display. There are no protective bud scales. Miniature pairs of leaves, exquisitely clasped together like moth wings, can be seen clearly. Some leaf pairs enfold a tiny, but perfectly formed flower bud, ready to grow in the earliest spring warmth.

The fruit is low in fat so it is not the first choice for songbirds. However, the black-throated green warbler nests in hobblebush in the spring. Grouse love the fruit and twigs as do turkeys. Chipmunks and red squirrels also harvest hobblebush seeds. Deer, moose, snowshoe hares, and cottontails nip the branches as they browse hobblebush in winter. Thank goodness this plant spreads by re-rooting itself underground! Here, every winter my hobblebush is denuded of next year’s flowers, but because I know where to go to find these beloved spring blossoms I don’t mind.

In the 1940s a European beetle arrived in Canada brought in by humans (of course). It was discovered in Maine in 1994. The infestation has ebbed and flowed. Because viburnum beetles’ eggs require a period of cold to gestate, New England and northern New York have seen the worst damage. Fortunately, throughout the infestation, Viburnum lanthanoids have shown resistance to the beetles perhaps because of their somewhat fuzzy leaf surfaces (pure speculation). It may also be true that some predators, birds or insects, have developed a taste for adult beetles. Warmer winter temperatures and shorter winters may reduce egg viability.  In any event, these infestations are cyclical. Patience and biodiversity are the antidotes. Healthy forests left to re-wild like those I visit take care of their own. Virtually all the hobblebush I find in these places are gloriously green in summer and all are clearly healthy.

Every year I look forward to seeing the hobblebush in all her splendor when I enter the woods I love so well. These seasonal offerings are a gift without price and I encourage anyone who loves this “in-between” season (in either spring or fall) to visit a forest that has been loved and left to care for itself.  Hobblebush will find you there!

Copy the Story Link

Comments are not available on this story.