| Red Osier Dogwood | |
|---|---|
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| 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. |
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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.
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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.
Cornus sericea is a popular ornamental shrub that is often planted for the red coloring of its twigs in the dormant season.
It is a variable species, with two subspecies commonly accepted:
 shrub |
 shrub, fall |
 shrub, winter |
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 twig & leaf |
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 flowers |
 flowers |
 Cornus: specimen botanicum sistens descriptiones et icones specierum corni minus cognitarum |
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