Viburnum, Doublefile Viburnum, Japanese Snowball Bush 'West Olive'

Despite the broad brush application of the note about poisonous parts of members of the genus Viburnum, I can vouch for the edibility of ...Read Morefruit from this plant - I just ate some this morning. I would suggest that these warnings be backed up with fact and sourced appropriately.

'West Olive' Doublefile Viburnum is an excellent introduction of this species. It grows relatively compactly and uniformly. It has copious lacecap blooms marching in pairs down its stems, which (when pollinated by an appropriate Doublefile Viburnum partner) then become fruits of a brilliant light red which then mature to black - and are sweet and tasty.

'West Olive' has burgundy to purple to dark reddish tones in fall, much like many other Doublefile Viburnums.

I would cast this selection among the top 5 in this species for conditions in the Ohio River valley and midwest.