Roger Phillips

Guelder Rose

Appears in
top 1000Wild Food
Wild Food

By Roger Phillips

Published 1986

  • About

Viburnum opulus A large deciduous shrub or small tree, generally rather common (but less so in Scotland), it is found in woods, scrub and hedges, especially on damp soils. The guelder rose flowers from June to July and bears fruit in September and October.

The name guelder comes from Gueldersland, a Dutch province, where the tree was first cultivated. The berries have been used in different ways by different nations. In Norway and Sweden they were used to flavour a paste of honey and flour. In Siberia they were fermented with flour and then distilled to yield a spirit. In Canada they are widely used as a substitute for cranberries and also to make a piquant jelly and in Maine, in the United States, they are cooked with molasses.