Viburnum lantana aka Mealytree

Viburnum lantana, the wayfaring tree or wayfaringtree viburnum, is a deciduous shrub in the family Viburnaceae. It grows wild from Europe, including Britain, to Iran and north-west Africa. It has also escaped from gardens and naturalised in parts of the northeastern United States. The common name may come from its frequent presence along roadsides and paths.

In gardens it forms a dense, rounded, multi-stemmed shrub with stout, upright and spreading branches. Most sources give a height and spread of 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 m). The RHS suggests a smaller 8 to 13 feet (2.5 to 4 m), though plants can reach about 16 feet (5 m). Older shrubs look coarse in winter and may become bare and leggy at the base.

The leaves are opposite, ovate and 2 to 5 inches long, with a heart-shaped or rounded base. They feel thick and leathery, and their upper surface is wrinkled and dull grey-green. Dense woolly hairs cover the underside. Autumn colour is purplish-red but often weak and varies from year to year. The twigs are grey-brown and downy. The buds are naked, with no scales, only a coat of fuzzy hairs. Young bark is smooth and grey, turning scaly with age.

Flat-topped cymes of small creamy-white flowers, 3 to 5 inches across, open in spring, usually in May. Sources disagree about their scent; some describe an unpleasant smell. The drupes, about a third of an inch long, turn from green through red to black in late summer. One cluster often shows several colours at once. Birds eat the fruit. Fruit set is best when several unrelated plants grow close together for cross-pollination.

The shrub suits full sun or partial shade and well-drained soil. It does best in fertile loam but copes with clay, sand and chalk. Once established it handles drought and compacted ground. It also tolerates alkaline soil better than most viburnums. It survives very cold winters, to USDA zone 3 or 4 and RHS rating H7. Gardeners use it for hedges, screens, borders, mass plantings and erosion control on banks. Prune straight after flowering, since next year's flower buds form in summer. Its stems were once used as twine, and nurseries use it as a grafting rootstock for other viburnums.

Serious problems are rare. Leaf spot appears now and then, and powdery mildew may occur. The RHS also lists aphids, viburnum beetle, Phytophthora, honey fungus and grey mould. Deer tend to leave it alone. The shrub suckers from the base and self-seeds, so it can spread aggressively. Some extension services suggest a native viburnum instead. The fruit is edible only as a famine food. Eating large amounts, or unripe fruit, can upset the stomach and cause diarrhoea.