Evergreen viburnum or laurel-leaved viburnum (V. tinus L.)

Family: Caprifoliaceae. Natural range - the Mediterranean.

An evergreen, densely branched shrub up to 3 m tall. Young shoots glabrous or sparsely pubescent; annual shoots brown. The leaves of this viburnum are remarkable — leathery, elliptic (12 x 5.5 cm), entire-margined, bright green and glossy above, paler beneath, pubescent along the veins. Flowers pink-white, fragrant, in umbel-like panicles, up to 10 cm in diameter. Fruits black-blue, somewhat dry, globose or ovoid drupes.

Well tolerant of drought, warmth-loving, withstands temperature drops down to -15°C. Light-loving, undemanding to soil. Tolerates pruning and crown shaping very well. Propagated by sowing seeds in autumn; spring sowing requires stratification; also by cuttings and layering. Grafts well onto common viburnum and wayfaring viburnum. Used in solitary and group plantings, and in the arrangement of hedges.

One of the most ornamental evergreen viburnum species, valued not only for its dense, glossy, bright green foliage, but also for its very early, long-lasting flowering of fragrant flowers. In cultivation since the early 19th century.