This American Cranberrybush Viburnum is barely different than the European variety. (They were once considered as similar species, but I think this merging is good. The American variety has slightly larger leaves to 5 inches, with longer less toothed lobes, and small dome-shaped, usually stalked glands on the petiole (versus a few larger disc-like glands of a concave nature. The American species gets a better autumn color more towards orange and red, its flower clusters are a little larger to 4.5 inches wide, and its red fruits are a little less tart. Its native range is from Nova Scotia though southeast Canada over the Great Lakes to southern Manitoba; New England, most of New York, northern New Jersey, northwest Pennsylvania, northern Ohio, Michigan, northern Illinois, Wisconsin, and northern Minnesota in bogs, swamps, along watercourses, and upland on slopes and banks. It grows about 1.5 feet/year. It has a shallow, fibrous root system and is easy to transplant. For some crazy reason, the European Cranberry Viburnum was planted way more than the American for a long time, but the American variety is a little better ornamental and being native it is more useful to good native wildlife and insects. There are some cultivars with larger fruit used for making jams and jellies.

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Highbush cranberry is not a true cranberry. Its fruit strongly resembles cranberry in appearance and taste, but it is a member of the Viburnum genus and Honeysuckle family. The true lowbush cranberry is a Vaccinium. Both plants are native to North America.

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