Cornus racemosa

Cornus racemosa, the northern swamp dogwood, gray dogwood, or panicle dogwood, is a shrubby plant native to southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States. It is a member of the dogwood genus Cornus and the family Cornaceae.

Cornus racemosa
Berries

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Cornales
Family: Cornaceae
Genus: Cornus
Subgenus: Cornus subg. Kraniopsis
Species:
C. racemosa
Binomial name
Cornus racemosa
Natural range of Cornus racemosa
Synonyms

[2]

  • Cornus albida Ehrh.
  • Cornus comosa Raf.
  • Cornus foemina subsp. racemosa (Lam.) J.S.Wilson
  • Cornus gracilis Koehne
  • Cornus paniculata L'Hér.
  • Cornus paniculata var. albida (Ehrh.) Pursh
  • Cornus paniculata var. radiata Pursh
  • Cornus racemosa f. caeruleocarpa Oswald
  • Cornus racemosa f. nielsenii J.W.Moore
  • Swida candidissima Small
  • Swida gracilis (Koehne) Soják
  • Swida racemosa (Lam.) Moldenke
  • Thelycrania racemosa (Lam.) Tsitsin

Description

Gray dogwood grows 1.2 to 3 m (4 to 10 ft) high, rarely to 8 m (26 ft).[3] It often sends up suckers from underground rhizomes, forming thickets. Its bark is gray and its twigs have white pith. The leaves are 4–8 cm (1+1⁄2–3+1⁄4 in) long and 1–4 cm (1⁄2–1+1⁄2 in) wide, and typically have 3 or 4 pairs of lateral veins, fewer than other dogwood species.[4] The plant grows upright with a rounded habit, oppositely arranged leaves, and terminally born flowers. The white flowers are small, with four petals 2.3 to 3 mm (0.091 to 0.118 in) long, and clustered together in rounded clusters 2.5 to 5 cm (1 to 2 in) wide called diachasial cymes,[4] produced sometime between May and July.[5] After flowering, green fruits (drupes) are produced, and they ripen and turn white from August to October.[5] The flowers and fruit are attached to the plant by bright red pedicels. Many species of birds feed on the fruits.[4] Old branches grow slowly, while new stems are fast growing. In the fall the foliage can take on a reddish or purplish color, though it is not overly showy from a distance.

Classification

Cornus racemosa has been variably treated as a subspecies of Cornus foemina Mill., with which it overlaps.[5]

It occasionally hybridizes with Cornus amomum (silky dogwood), the products of which are named Cornus × arnoldiana.[6]

References
  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  2. "Cornus racemosa Lam. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science".
  3. Coladonato, Milo (1993). "Cornus racemosa". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.
  4. "Swida racemosa (gray dogwood)". Go Botany. New England Wildflower Society. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  5. Murrell, Zack E.; Poindexter, Derick B. (2016). "Cornus racemosa". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 12. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  6. "Cornus × arnoldiana". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2018-07-28.
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