Highbush Cranberry the cranberry that's not a cranberry

摘要

Cranberries that grow on bushes - no bog to wade through - and in fact, not a cranberry at all. It is actually a viburnum, in the honeysuckle (Caprifoliaceae) family. At first glance you might think it's a small maple tree. The leaves are opposite anddeeply 3-lobed above the middle like a maple. But that's where the similarity ends. White flat-topped clusters of flowers appear on the highbush cranberry in late spring or early summer and are of two kinds: the outer flowers are showy - white with 5 petals, but sterile, while in the center are tiny, almost inconspicuous fertile flowers. These will be followed by a rounded fruit that turns bright red in the early fall as it ripens.