Some viburnum bushes here already are producing berries, perhaps being induced by our dry conditions. The following image of these berries was taken on Monday, although they started appearing more than a week ago. They are on a double file viburnum bush (Viburnum plicatum f. tomenosum).
This plant’s common name is descriptive of its white spring blooms, which appear in axils of leaves on each side of a node (that is, they appear in “double file”) on horizontal branches. This plant’s berries historically have been survival food for fall and winter birds.
There reportedly are over 150 species of viburnum, several of which are native to North America and were used by Native Americans and European settlers for food and tea. This double file species, however, is a native of China that has been cultivated widely in the United States and, when abandoned, sometimes naturalizes itself. (Image taken in Brooklin, Maine, on August 1, 2022.)