Highbush Cranberry

Viburnum trilobum

Pollinator Value

🔑 Keystone: Viburnum is a keystone genus supporting 103 lepidoptera species in eastern North America, including specialist feeders like the Brown Scoopwing (Calledapteryx dryopterata) and The Green Marvel (Agriopodes fallax). The genus also supports clearwing moths (Hemaris thysbe, H. diffinis) and large silkmoths (Callosamia promethea, Hyalophora cecropia, Automeris io). Persistent drupes feed at least 18 bird species through winter, making this a critical wildlife hub.
S13 103 lepidoptera; S57 18 bird species
❄️ Winter Food Source: Bright red drupes persist on bare branches through winter, providing critical food for Cedar Waxwing (40% diet by volume), Ruffed Grouse (9.4% by volume), Pine Grosbeak, American Robin, Hermit Thrush, and Wild Turkey. Spruce Grouse, Willow Ptarmigan, and Eastern Bluebird also consume the fruit. Go Botany notes berries often remain on the shrub throughout winter. The dense branching structure provides cover for small mammals and wintering birds.
S57 Cedar Waxwing 40% vol; S61 berries persist through winter; S10 Cedar Waxwing, Ruffed Grouse, Wild Turkey

Proximity Score: 0
Native Status: ✅ Outaouais ❌ Ottawa ✅ QC ✅ ON
Closest Direction: Local
CEC Eco-Regions: 5 – Northern Forests, 5.2 – Mixed Wood Shield, 5.2.3 – Algonquin/Southern Laurentians
Rarity Notes: Secure in Ontario (S5) and Apparently Secure in Quebec (S4). Not listed under SARA or COSEWIC. NatureServe global rank T5 with national ranks of N5 (Canada) and N4 (USA). Widespread across much of Canada from BC to NB, native in 11 provinces/territories per VASCAN. The species is common and not considered at risk in either province.
S22 S5/S4, T5, N5/N4; S26 not SARA listed; S1 native in 11 provinces
Rarity Ranks: QC S4 – Apparently Secure, ON S5 – Secure
Migration: Stable
Ecological Context: American cranberrybush inhabits swamps, wetland margins, shorelines of rivers and lakes, moist thickets, and edges of bottomland woodlands. In the Outaouais, herbarium specimens document it along the Ruisseau des fées in Hull and in wooded agricultural zones west of Route 148. It favours rich, organic soils under wet to mesic moisture regimes and is shade-tolerant, persisting along forest edges and hedgerows where it provides important structural cover for wildlife.
S61 swamps, wetland margins, shorelines; S10 bottomland woodlands, moist thickets; S54 Hull and Route 148 specimens; S4 woodland habitat

Roles: Wildlife Habitat
S73/S29/S72 Evidence: Wildlife Habitat: S72 Hemenway (tables: 7-2, pp. 116)]
Notes: American cranberrybush functions as a wildlife habitat shrub in guild plantings, providing persistent winter fruit for birds and dense cover for small mammals. Hemenway lists it for wildlife habitat value. Its tolerance of shade and wet soils makes it suitable for understory or wetland edge plantings alongside taller canopy trees. The extrafloral nectaries on petioles attract beneficial ants.
S72 wildlife habitat; S10 ants attracted to petiolar nectaries; S61 cover for small mammals and birds

Category: Gynecological Aid, Febrifuge, Blood Medicine, Analgesic, Gastrointestinal Aid, Emetic, Laxative, Cathartic, Heart Medicine, Kidney Aid, Pulmonary Aid, Pediatric Aid, Strengthener, Cold Remedy
S28 Moerman categories from Iroquois, Chippewa, Ojibwa uses
Notes: Extensively used by Iroquois, Chippewa, and Ojibwa peoples. Iroquois used bark infusion as emetic and laxative, root decoction as febrifuge for infants, and compound decoctions for heart, kidney, blood purification, and postpartum hemorrhage prevention. Chippewa took root infusions for prolapsed uterus. Ojibwa used inner bark infusion for stomach cramps and as a cathartic. The bark (known as cramp bark in European herbal tradition) contains scopoletin and viopudial, compounds with documented antispasmodic activity.
S28 22 medicinal uses across Iroquois, Chippewa, Ojibwa

✅ Edible ✅ Commonly Eaten

Foraging Notes: Berries were eaten fresh, dried, made into preserves, cakes, and sauces by numerous First Nations including Algonquin (Quebec), Iroquois, Chippewa, Menominee, Ojibwa, Okanagon, and Thompson peoples. Iroquois dried the fruit, mashed it into small cakes for storage, and reconstituted it as a sauce or mixed with corn bread. Chippewa used fresh and dried fruits as an acid sauce. Slightly unripe berries make excellent jams, jellies, and sauces. The fruit was also used as bait for snaring snowshoe hares.
S28 10 food uses across 7 nations; S61 jams, jellies, sauces