I've seen this - http://picasaweb.google.com/101878960455127649073/WhatIsThis?authkey=Gv1sRgCOuUlpio3ciXPA# - along the roads here in Northumberland County, Ontario. The shrub is 3-5 metres tall and the berries are quite hard and quite distinctive. Mike
Ok, Viburnum opulus var. americanum is the native Ontarian highbush cranberry (also sometimes referred to as Viburnum trilobum). The Eurasian counterpart, Viburnum opulus var. opulus is according to The Shrubs of Ontario. The different between the two is that the Eurasian one has bristle-tipped stipules & the glands at the junction of the petiole and blade are concave with saucerlike discs (whereas the native Ontarian one has slender thick-tipped stipules and several small club-shaped glands at the near the junction with the blade).
V. edule really isn't very similar to V. opulus, as far as it goes. Part of the problem may be vendors offering V. opulus as V. edule, and naturalists assuming naturalized V. opulus seen in this region were V. edule. I continue to see images of V. opulus presented as V. edule by sources who really ought to know better, such as authors of native plant guides.
I'd say that it's the European rather than the native. We have the native growing on our property and it looks quite different. The leaves are not as large nor is the fruit. For a better comparison, I'll take some cuttings the next time that I see the plant. Thanks for your quick response and ID. Mike
Agreed, that's what tripped me up when doing an image search on V. edule. The illustrations in The Shrubs of Ontario quickly excluded it as a possibility.
I'd love to lay my hands on V. Edule. It's the one that you can make a very edible jelly from. Friends brought back berries from the Sudbury, Ontario area and the jelly we made was wonderful. I suspect that it was edule. I've also had jelly from either trilobum or opulus and it was terrible. The birds get the fruit from our trilobum so I don't know what it's like.