Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate forest
Range: North America
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Common

About

A shade-tolerant understory shrub of eastern North American forests, named for its three-lobed, maple-like leaves. Its clusters of small white flowers give way to blue-black berries that turn deep pink-to-purple autumn foliage into a favorite for foraging birds.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Dipsacales
Family: Viburnaceae
Genus: Viburnum
Species: Viburnum acerifolium