Mooseberry, hobblebush, moose-wood

This 1 to 4 m tall shrub has smooth, red bark. Its 7 to 20 cm-wide opposite leaves are heart-shaped. They are crinkled like those of alder and arranged along the twigs, which are short, borne on only one side of the branch and end in two leaves. The large, scaleless, pale cinnamon-coloured buds distinguish the plant from other viburnums. It has two kinds of white flowers: larger, sterile ones form a crown around smaller, fertile ones. Its fleshy fruit start out green and turn yellow, orange, bright red, purple and then black. Because all the fruit do not ripen at the same time, all these shades are often found in the same cluster. The fruit fall once they have ripened. The leaves that will grow in the spring are already formed in the fall. They spend the winter in a half-open state, protected by a hairy covering rather than scales.