Yes!
You are in the ballpark, and to get you rounding third and heading home to score requires a little botanical lumping versus splitting. I'll also comment on the hazards of common names and misleading-ness of same. The NGA database has a lot of information in it, but could stand some clearer organization - especially in combining "like with like" in this species.
Viburnum plicatum is certainly a species of Viburnum from Asia. It has been used horticulturally and ornamentally for millenia, and plant geeks way before us have preferentially selected plants for superior traits down through the ages, especially in Japanese and Chinese gardens. There likely is no longer species plants being grown horticulturally in this country.
What we see, buy, and plant today in the US is a small sliver of that broad rich genetic soup of this Viburnum. The plant you have shown us is mostly completely described as
Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum (syn.
Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum), which is the scientific name for the lacecap flowered version - which I prefer to call Doublefile Viburnum. It has no "snowball" characteristics, so I think that common name ought to be reserved for the next plant I will discuss here. The lacecap blooms are composed of the showy sterile bracts which surround the fertile flowers in the center of the bloom - from which the fruit form - and they march two-by-two (double file) above the foliage down the branches.
There are many selections of Doublefile Viburnum in commerce. A couple of full sized versions that are excellent ones are 'Mariesii' and 'Shasta'; others include 'Lanarth' and 'West Olive'. 'Shoshoni' is a great compact form, and 'Summer Snowflake' is a narrow one which repeat blooms. 'Molly Schroeder' blooms with a pinkish hue in its bracts. Doublefile Viburnum is stunning in flower, and amazingly colorful when it bears a heavy crop of its bright red fruit.
Here is a closeup of a Doublefile Viburnum bloom displaying the showy bracts around the fertile flowers in the center:
Here's a big 'Shasta' at the Valley:
And a closeup of Doublefile Viburnum in fruit:
Viburnum plicatum f. plicatum is the name for the plant most properly called Japanese Snowball Viburnum. This is the plant that has been so heavily selected/hybridized over the years that the blooms are composed (almost always) solely of the showy sterile bracts - looking for all the world like a bunch of snowballs on the plant. Because there are few to no fertile flowers, there won't be fruit produced. Since the sterile bracts are not functioning reproductive structures, these blooms last and last - showy for a longer period in the landscape than Doublefile, but (in my opinion) less elegantly. There are many named selections of Japanese Snowball Viburnum. 'Popcorn', 'Newport', 'Kern's Pink', and 'Mary Milton' are just a few.
Here's a bloom closeup:
A full view of a Japanese Snowball Viburnum at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville KY:
Any questions?
