Viburnum prunifolium

9.9

A medium shrub that loses its leaves in winter and has dark blue berries

noun

Specialized

: viburno de hojas de ciruela

The gardener selected Viburnum prunifolium for its attractive spring flowers and autumn berries.

Examples

Native Americans are known to have used parts of Viburnum prunifolium for medicinal purposes.
In landscaping, Viburnum prunifolium is valued for its hardiness and wildlife-friendly fruit.
The Viburnum prunifolium is often found in gardens across the Midwest.
Many people appreciate the beauty of Viburnum prunifolium in bloom.
The gardener chose Viburnum prunifolium for its dark-blue fruit that attracts birds.
In spring, Viburnum prunifolium showcases beautiful white flowers, enhancing any garden's appeal.
You can often see Viburnum prunifolium growing in the wild, especially in eastern North America.

Synonyms

black haw

vsViburnum prunifolium

9.2

A small tree or bush with white flowers and dark blue edible berries often grown in gardens

is the scientific species noting native range and frosted dark blue fruit

Surface Forms

Viburnum prunifolium singular

Viburnum prunifoliums plural

Morphology

Viburnum + prunifolium

This is a Latin binomial scientific name rather than a compositional English phrase: the genus 'Viburnum' indicates a shrub but the specific epithet 'prunifolium' is a Latin form not transparently meaningful to a B1 learner (and has no dictionary gloss here). Even if the learner knows 'Viburnum' as a shrub, the overall species identity and descriptive sense are not derivable from ordinary English vocabulary, so the expression is not compositional for learners.

Etymology

Viburnum prunifolium comes from Latin words that describe the shrub: Viburnum is the name for this group of shrubs and prunifolium means 'plum-leaf' because its leaves look like a plum tree's leaves. So the name helps you remember it is an upright shrub with dark, plum-like fruit often called 'blackhaw'.