Viburnum farreri was named after the plant collector Reginald Farrer.
In 1914-15, the British plant explorers Reginald Farrer and William Purdom were prowling the foothills of the northern mountains separating China from the Mongolia border, collecting seeds of new species. Although the shrub was a favorite Chinese garden plant at the time, growing at very high altitudes, its ‘discovery’ in the wild is credited to Farrer.