Viburnum

Viburnum
Viburnum

Quick Notes /


Viburnums bloom in green, shades of light pink, and white in the last part of April through early May. Viburnums vary in their height, spread, and style of flower. While most flowers are unscented, those that are fragrant are wonderfully so.

This species’ small, tubular white blooms grow in dense clusters up to 4 inches in diameter on leafy stems. The spherical mounds garner this species the common name of “snowball.” 


Growth Notes /

The flowers are produced in corymbs 5–15 cm across, each flower white to cream or pink, small, 3–5 mm across, with five petals, strongly fragrant in some species.  

   

 

 

The leaves are opposite, simple, and entire, toothed or lobed; cool temperate species aredeciduous, while most of the warm temperate species are evergreen. Some species are densely hairy on the shoots and leaves, with star-shaped hairs.

Flower History/

Viburnum opulus (Kalyna) is one of the traditional symbols of Ukraine. Mentions of the bush can be found throughout the Ukrainian folklore such as songs, picturesque art, Ukrainian embroidery, and others. Chervona Kalyna was the anthem of theUkrainian Insurgent Army. Kalyna Country is an ecomuseum in Canada.

This bush’s symbolic roots can be traced to the Slavic paganism of millennia ago. According to a legend Kalyna was associated with the birth of the Universe, the so-called Fire Trinity: the Sun, the Moon, and the Star.[8][9] Its berries symbolize blood and the undying trace of family roots. Kalyna is often depicted on the Ukrainian embroidery: towels and shirts. In Slavic paganism kalyna also represents the beauty of a young lady which rhymes well in the Ukrainian language: Ka-ly-na – Div-chy-na.[10][11][12] That consistency was reviewed by numerous Ukrainian folklorists such as Nikolay Kostomarov, Aleksandr Potebnia (founder of the Kharkiv Linguistic School).

Inside Info /

 

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