Montana Field Guide

Nannyberry is a tall shrub that is up to 3 m high with usually smooth, gray to reddish brown bark. The opposite leaves have broadly elliptic, pointed blades that are 5-9 cm long with finely toothed margins. The winged petioles are 10-27 mm long and have sparse, reddish brown hairs at the base. Foliage is glabrous. Small flowers are borne in open, umbrella-like inflorescences that are 5-12 cm across and sessile amongst leaves on the tips of the branches. Each flower has a tubular calyx with 5 short lobes and a white, bell-shaped, 5-lobed corolla that is 2-3 mm long. The 5 stamens are exserted from the corolla. The dark blue, globose fruit is 10-14 mm long and has a thin, whitish, waxy coating.

Flowering in June.

The other species of Viburnum in our area have lobed leaves. Viburnum lentago is more likely to be confused with Cornus stolonifera, which has red twigs and entire-margined leaves.

Openings in riparian forests on the plains.

POLLINATORS
The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap: Bombus pensylvanicus and Bombus griseocollis (Colla and Dumesh 2010).

STATE THREAT SCORE REASON
Reported threats to Montana's populations of Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago) are currently assigned as unknown. Most populations occur where coal strip mining is a potential source of threats, but the status of active mining is not known. Negative impacts to Nannyberry’s very restricted habitat may have potentially severe outcomes. Threats due to mining need to be substantiated before a threat rank can be assigned (MTNHP Threat Assessment 2021).