Viburnum lantanoides is a perennial shrub of the family Adoxaceae

Adoxaceae

The Adoxaceae is a small family of flowering plants in the order Dipsacales, as now constituted comprising four genera and about 150-200 species. It is characterised by opposite toothed leaves, small five- or, more rarely, four-petalled flowers in cymose inflorescences, and the fruit being a drupe...

growing 2–4 meters (6–12 ft) high with pendulous branches that take root where they touch the ground. These rooted branches form obstacles which easily trip (or hobble) walkers – hence the common name.

The shrub forms large clusters of white to pink flowers in May–June. The flowers on the outer edge of the clusters are much larger (3–5 cm across). The whole cluster is typically 10 cm across. It has large, cardioid

Cardioid

A cardioid is a plane curve traced by a point on the perimeter of a circle that is rolling around a fixed circle of the same radius. It is therefore a type of limaçon and can also be defined as an epicycloid having a single cusp...

 leaves which are serrate, 10–20 cm long. The bark is gray-brown and warty and the fruit is a drupe which is red, turning to black when ripened.

The flowers provide nectar for the Celastrina ladon

Celastrina ladon

The Spring Azure is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found in North America from Alaska and Canada south of the tundra through most of the United States except the Texas coast, southern plain and peninsular Florida; south in the mountains to Colombia.Since the publication of a monograph...

(Spring Azure) butterfly. Mammals and birds feed on its fruit, twigs, and leaves. The large showy flowers along the edge of the cluster are sterile, while the small inner flowers have both male and female parts.

Distribution

Viburnum lantanoides is found in the eastern U.S. and Canada from Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

 to the Canadian Maritimes

Maritimes

The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...

.
It grows in rich, moist acidic woods, stream banks, and swamps.