Nannyberry - "Viburnum lentago"

The Nannyberry is thought of by botanists as a prarie plant, however, it is wide spread and a native plant in New York State.

To left is a map of the areas in New York State (click here) where the Nannyberry can be found.

This is New York's habitat description:

Shrub and tree swamps, marshes, roadside ditches, and wet to mesic successional fields. A common wetland shrub in at least parts of NY it sometimes occur it large shrub thickets mixed with other shrubs including V. dentatum var. lucidum and Cornus spp. It does best in wet soils but also grows in mesic or seasonally flooded areas.

The "Prarie Nursery" describes it this way.

This versatile shrub (click here) provides year round interest, from the showy white flower in May, to its burgundy color in autumn and dark blue berries in winter. The ripe berries are edible straight off the bush and are popular in jams and jellies. Adaptable to a wide range of sites, Viburnum lentago is found natively in low woods or near stream banks, but also tolerates drier sites. Very shade tolerant in nature, it grows larger in more open sunny areas. Large, upright, and suckering, Nannyberry spreads by roots to form colonies and makes an excellent privacy or hedgerow, or it can be maintained as a small tree by pruning stems and removing suckers at the base....

It has a very pretty flower and can be adapted to a home garden as well.

This is the bush itself as seen in the forest or along a road. It can be tamed a bit to accommodate a home garden. 

These bushes are actually very valuable habitat for the wildlife.