Cornus racemosa | |
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Berries | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Cornales |
Family: | Cornaceae |
Genus: | Cornus |
Subgenus: | Cornus subg. Kraniopsis |
Species: | C. racemosa
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Binomial name | |
Cornus racemosa | |
Natural range of Cornus racemosa | |
Synonyms | |
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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.
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.
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]