Plant · P-922

Black Haw

Viburnum prunifolium

Black Haw is a slow-growing native shrub or small tree grown for its sweet, thin-fleshed fruit, eaten fresh after frost or cooked into preserves, and for its root bark, long used to ease menstrual cramping and pain. It shears well into a formal hedge, and its white spring flowers and dark autumn fruit draw pollinators and birds. It tolerates drought, compacted ground and the juglone that black walnut roots release, and grows in full sun to light shade across soils from sandy to heavy clay, spreading gradually by root suckers as well as by bird-carried seed.