Viburnum dentatum, southern arrowwood or arrowwood viburnum or roughish arrowwood, is a small shrub, native to the eastern United States and Canada from Maine south to northern Florida and eastern Texas.
Like most Viburnum, it has opposite, simple leaves and fruit in berry-like drupes. Foliage turns yellow to red in late fall. Localized variations of the species are common over its entire geographic range. Common differences include leaf size and shape and placement of pubescence on leaf undersides and petioles.
V. dentatum occurs in habitat types such as upland mixed woodlands, mesic pine-oak woods, hardwood hammocks, and floodplains.Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2023. Collectors: Bill Anderson, Loran C. Anderson, Pam Anderson, C. Ritchie Bell, Kathy Boyle, Herrick Brown, J. Carter, Richard Carter, R. Cherry, R. K. Godfrey, C. Hudson, Carleen Jones, S. B. Jones, Brian R. Keener, Gary R. Knight, H. Kurz, Linda Lee, Travis MacClendon, Sidney McDaniel, Albert Pittman, James D. Ray Jr., H. F. L. Rock, and K. Willis. States and counties: Alabama: Clarke, Houston, and Monroe. Florida: Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Wakulla. Georgia: Baker and Decatur. Mississippi: Hancock, Marion, and Pearl River. North Carolina: Macon. South Carolina: Beaufort. Tennessee: Fentress
Some moth larvae feed on V. dentatum. Known such species include the unsated sallow (or arrowwood sallow; Metaxaglaea inulta) and Phyllonorycter viburnella. It is also consumed by the viburnum leaf beetle (Pyrrhalta viburni), an invasive species from Eurasia. The fruits are a food source for songbirds. Berries contain 41.3% fat.Smith, Susan B.; McPherson, Kathleen H.; Backer, Jeffrey M.; Pierce, Barbara J.; Podlesak, David W.; and McWilliams, Scott R. "Fruit quality and consumption by songbirds during autumn migration." The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 2007, volume 119, issue 3, pages 419-428,
The fruits appear blue. The major pigments are cyanidin 3-glucoside, cyanidin 3-sambubioside, and cyanidin 3-vicianoside, but the total mixture is very complex.Francis F.J. and Markakis, Pericles C. "Food colorants: Anthocyanins." Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 1989, Volume 28, Issue 4, pages 273-314,
Native Americans used the young stems to make arrow shafts.
Varieties Viburnum dentatum var. deamii Viburnum dentatum var. dentatum Viburnum dentatum var. lucidum – currently considered a separate species; Viburnum recognitum, the northern arrowwood, or smooth arrowwood Viburnum dentatum var. venosum
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