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Red Osier Dogwood
Red Osier Dogwood bearing fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Cornales
Family:	Cornaceae
Genus:	Cornus
Subgenus:	Swida
Species:	C. sericea
Binomial name
Cornus sericea L.

The Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea, syn. C. stolonifera, Swida sericea) is a species of dogwood native throughout northern and western North America from Alaska east to Newfoundland, south to Durango and Nuevo León in the west, and Illinois and Virginia in the east. Other names include Redtwig Dogwood, Red-rood, American Dogwood, and (subsp. occidentalis) Western Dogwood.

Growth

In the wild, it commonly grows in areas of damp soil, such as wetlands. It is a medium to tall deciduous shrub, growing 1.5-4 m tall and 3-5 m wide, spreading readily by underground stolons to form dense thickets. The branches and twigs are dark red, although wild plants may lack this coloration in shaded areas. The leaves are opposite, 5-12 cm long and 2.5-6 cm broad, with an ovate to oblong shape and an entire margin; they are dark green above and glaucous below; fall color is commonly bright red to purple. The flowers are small (5-10 mm diameter), dull white in color, in clusters 3-6 cm diameter. The fruit is a globose white berry 5-9 mm diameter.

Uses

Cornus sericea is a popular ornamental shrub that is often planted for the red coloring of its twigs in the dormant season.

Species

It is a variable species, with two subspecies commonly accepted:

• Cornus sericea subsp. sericea - throughout the range of the species. Shoots and leaves hairless or finely pubescent; flower petals 2-3 mm.
• Cornus sericea subsp. occidentalis (Torr. & A.Gray) Fosberg - western North America. Shoots and leaves densely pubescent; flower petals 3-4.5 mm.

Gallery

shrub	shrub, fall	shrub, winter	twigs
leaf	twig & leaf	flowers	flowers
flowers	Cornus: specimen botanicum sistens descriptiones et icones specierum corni minus cognitarum	seed

References

• Blanchan, Neltje (2005). Wild Flowers Worth Knowing. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  

External links

• USDA ARS Germplasm Resources Information Network: Cornus sericea
• NRCS: USDA Plants Profile: Cornus sericea
• Jepson Flora of California: Cornus sericea; subsp. sericea, subsp. occidentalis.
• Cornus sericea ssp. sericea images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu

From Wikispecies

Cornus sericea

Taxonavigation

Classification System: APG II (down to family level)

Main Page
Cladus: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiospermae
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Ordo: Unassigned Asterids
Ordo: Cornales
Familia: Cornaceae
Genus: Cornus
Subgenus: C. subg. Swida
Species: Cornus sericea
Subspecies: C. sericea subsp. occidentalis - C. sericea subsp. sericea

Name

Cornus sericea L.

References

• Mantissa Plantarum. Generum Editionis vi et Specierum Editionis ii. 2:199. 1771
• USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. [1]

Vernacular names

For more multimedia, look at Cornus sericea on Wikimedia Commons.