Blackhaw grows into a large shrub/small tree (25 feet), but according to Edward F. Gilman with the University of Florida, there are spreading, weeping, and dwarf forms. Blackhaw blooms in the early spring, berries follow turning red, then black. Blackhaw is a birder's tree. The berries attract numerous birds in the fall and winter. The dense branching makes it perfect for nesting and roosting birds.

Blackhaw was first described by Thomas Walter. He was born in Hampshire, England in 1740 and trained as a botanist. He moved to Charleston, South Carolina in 1768, becoming a planter (plantation owner). Walter described Viburnum obovatum in his Flora Caroliniana published in London in 1788.