Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum Marsh.)
Like miniature fireworks, bright bunches of the berries of Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum Marsh.) burst along our roadsides in late summer. Highbush Cranberry is also called Cranberry, Pimbina, and in Quebec, quatres-saisons des bois.
The Highbush Cranberry is a large deciduous shrub, found in cool woods, thickets, shores and slopes. It has grey bark and dense reddish-brown twigs. The large lobed leaves are very similar to red maple.
In spring and summer, the white flowers bloom in a cyme or corymb (a flat-topped or convex open flower-cluster). Most flowers in the cluster are small, but the outermost flowers are large and showy, making the plant attractive for insect pollinators.
The fruit is a drupe, ellipsoid and brightly colored red or orange. The juicy, acidic fruit has a very similar flavour to cranberry (Vaccinium spp. L.) and is used for jams and jellies. The preserves are rich in Vitamin C.
~
~
fireworks, quatres-saisons
(Viburnum trilobum Marsh.)
~
~
against a drawing paper sky
some liberated hand
has sketched fireworks
~
remember precursors in spring?
blowsy cymes, white sputter
of a Catherine wheel
~
now these berries, ready to pick
bold, spherical outburst
of vermillion sparks
~
a pyrotechnic flash of red
strontium detonates
in receptive dark
~
a four-season celebration
spring confetti, berries,
fireworks in fall
~
cranberry preserves – acidic,
tart blaze of summer sky
winter ignition
~
~
© Jane Tims 2012
© Jane Tims 2012
nichepoetryandprose 
“Wow” to both poem and drawing.
LikeLike
Jane Fritz
September 20, 2012 at 5:54 pm
I think I’ve seen these berries before – I’m glad to know they’re edible – your photo’s so clear and it’s so good you included the leaves for identification.
LikeLike
dearrosie
September 20, 2012 at 1:44 am
I love this whole post. When I was growing up, we had tall highbush cranberries that grew as a protective hedge between the house and the roadway in front. Each year we picked the berries and my grandmother made jelly. One of the delights of my childhood. Thanks for this post. Terrific photos.
LikeLike
Carol Steel
September 19, 2012 at 9:41 pm
How wonderful! Great pictures, poem and drawing. Silly question, perhaps, but does the Highbush Cranberry have the same medicinal properties that ‘ordinary’ cranberry has? I mean cranberries’ supposed benefit for keeping a healthy bladder and urethra?
LikeLike
dfb
September 19, 2012 at 2:07 pm