This Bracted or Limestone Viburnum is native to northeast Alabama, northwest Georgia, & southeast Tennessee in the USA growing in open woods, along rivers, and up upon limestone bluffs & ledges. It is very similar to the much more common Smooth Arrowwood Viburnum (V. dentatum) that is also native to the South and to the Mid-Atlantic. This uncommon species differs in having glossier, thicker leaves and bracts on the flower cluster stems. There is a number of Arrowwood kinds of Viburnums that are so similar that I would classify them as slightly different varieties of the same species. Since this shrub grows on limestone areas, I would think it is adapted to growing in alkaline soil, despite the literature saying it likes acid soils. There is a cultivar of this species that was selected by Dr. Michael Dirr at the University of Georgia that can be bought at some larger, diverse, conventional nurseries called 'Emerald Luster,' that has good shiny, dark leaves and branches more towards the ground than the mother species. Arrowwood kinds of Viburnums tend to become leggy shrubs. Frankly, I like many leggy shrubs.

Reply to this comment