Viburnum plicatum

Japanese Snowball, Doublefile Viburnum

Message of the Flower

Collective Purity

The Mother’s Comment

A very precious achievement, but difficult to obtain.

Spiritual Message by the Mother/ Quotes by Sri Aurobindo

This is purity, to accept no other influence but only the influence of the Divine.

The Mother, Words of the Mother - II: Purity

One is truly perfectly pure only when the whole being, in all its elements and all its movements, adheres fully, exclusively, to the divine Will. This indeed is total purity. It does not depend on any moral or social law, any mental convention of any kind. It depends exclusively on this: when all the elements and all the movements of the being adhere exclusively and totally to the divine Will.

The Mother, Questions and Answers 1954: 22 December 1954

What I call purity, the true purity, is not all those things morality teaches: it is non-ego.

There must be nothing but Him.

Him, not only because we have given Him everything and consecrated ourselves totally to Him (that is not enough), but Him because He has taken total possession of the human instrument.

The Mother, Mother's Agenda: May 21, 1960

There is a force of purity, not the purity of the moralist, but an essential purity of spirit, in the very substance of the being.

Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV: Sex

Colour

White

Family

Adoxaceae

Cultivars

Mariesii', 'Summer Snowflake', 'Watanabe'

Person who named the flower

Philipp Franz von Siebold

Flower Size

Individual flowers are small, but they are clustered into large, showy, snowball-like inflorescences

Flower Texture

Soft, delicate

Number of Petals

5 petals per flower in the fertile flowers; ornamental sterile flowers may appear to have more due to enlarged calyx

Floral Symmetry

Radial

Fragrance of Flower

Lightly fragrant

Leaf Texture

Smooth, with a pleated (plicate) appearance

Leaf Arrangement

Opposite

Leaf Color

Green, turning to reddish-purple in fall

Structural Variation (Shrub or Tree)

Shrub

Life Cycle

Perennial

Blooming Period

Late spring to early summer

Climate

Temperate

Water Requirements

Medium, prefers well-drained soil

Soil Type

Adaptable to various soil types, prefers slightly acidic to neutral soil

Temperature Ranges

Hardy in USDA zones 5-8

Sun or Shade

Full sun to partial shade

Susceptibility to Insects and Diseases

Aphids, viburnum beetle, powdery mildew

Pollinators

Bees, butterflies

Habitat

Native to Japan and China, used in landscapes worldwide

Role in the Ecosystem

Provides food for wildlife, ornamental value for habitats

Ornamental

Highly valued for landscaping due to its beautiful flowers and foliage

Uses in Other Aspects of Life

Mainly ornamental.

Endangered Status

Not endangered; widely cultivated