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Re: High bush Cranberry

In a message dated 98-08-14 14:17:15 EDT, you write:

<< I've seen high bush cranberry listed as a Viburnum.  Have been wondering
for a
 long time whether the berries are anything like real cranberries.  Can anyone
 tell me?
 Carol >>

Well, I've heard of highbush blackberry, highbush blueberry, and highbush
huckleberry.  But highbush cranberry is new to me.

There are two Viburnuns called "cranberrybush".  Is this what you are talking
about, perhaps?  Viburnum opulus is known as European Cranberrybush Viburnum
and Viburnum trilobum is called American Cranberrybush Viburnum.  True
cranberries do not grow around here (no bogs), so the only cranberries I have
seen are the ones we buy in bags at the grocery store.  But I have seen lots
of cranberrybush viburnums in fruit and yes they do look something like
cranberries.  The red color is the same, but the fruits (berry-like pomes) of
the viburnums are smaller.

European Cranberrybush Viburnum has round red fruits that are about 1/4th inch
in diameter.  Birds don't like them so they hang on in the winter, but they
quickly shrivel up and then they smell bad.  In school, the students took to
calling it "stinky fruit viburnum".  We had to identify about 25 viburnum
species, and they can be very difficult to tell apart, but this one was easy.
We just sniffed the berries!  

The fruits of American Cranberrybush Viburnum hold up better.  They aren't
quite as round, but they are bright red.  They are a bit bigger, about 1/3rd
inch diameter.  They are edible, and people use them for jelly and preserves,
but I have never tasted them.  Maybe they taste like cranberries, too.  Does
anybody know?  

--Janis
Missouri, zone 6
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