What is "viburnum lantana"

Lithy \Lith"y\a. [See Lithe.] Easily bent; pliable.

Lithy tree (Bot.), a European shrub ( Viburnum Lantana); -- so named from its tough and flexible stem.

Whitten tree \Whit"ten tree`\ [Probably from white; cf. AS. hwitingtre['o]w.] (Bot.) Either of two shrubs ( Viburnum Lantana, and Viburnum Opulus), so called on account of their whitish branches.

Wayfaring \Way"far`ing\, a. Traveling; passing; being on a journey. ``A wayfaring man.''
--Judg. xix. 17.

Wayfaring tree (Bot.), a European shrub ( Viburnum lantana) having large ovate leaves and dense cymes of small white flowers.

American wayfaring tree (Bot.), the ( Viburnum lantanoides).

Viburnum lantana (wayfarer or wayfaring tree) is a species of Viburnum, native to central, southern and western Europe (north to Yorkshire in England), northwest Africa, and southwestern Asia. The vigorous deciduous European treelike shrub is common along waysides.

It is a deciduous shrub or small tree growing to 4–5 m tall. The leaves are opposite, simple oval to lanceolate, 6–13 cm wide and 4–9 cm broad, with a finely serrated margin; they are densely downy on the underside, less so on the upper surface. The hermaphrodite flowers are small (5 mm), creamy-white, produced in dense cymes 4–10 cm width at the top of the stems; they are produced in early summer, and pollinated by insects. The fruit is an oblong drupe 8 mm long, green at first, turning red, then finally black at full maturity, and contains a single seed. The seeds are dispersed when birds eat the fruit, then deposit the seeds in another location in their droppings.

An older name for the plant is hoarwithy. "Hoar" means grey-haired and refers to the hairs under the leaves, and "withy" means a pliant stem.