Cornus sericea L.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Cornaceae

• Scientific Name

  Cornus sericea L.

• Description

  Species Description - Shrub 1–3 m, often forming dense thickets; twigs bright red; pith large and white; lvs lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, mostly 5–10 cm and a third to two-thirds as wide, acute to gradually acuminate at the tip, acute to broadly rounded at base, distinctly whitened beneath; lateral veins in well grown lvs 5–7 to a side; infl flat or slight convex; fr white (reputedly sometimes blue), 7–9 mm; stone brownish-black, with 7–9 vertical yellow stripes; 2n=22. Streambanks and moist woods; Nf. to Alas., s. to Pa., Ind., Ill., and n. Mex. May–Aug. Pubescence of the lower lf-surface typically sparse and strictly appressed, that of the twigs minute and mostly appressed. (C. baileyi, a form common about the Great Lakes and in s. Ont., with the pubescence partly spreading; C. interior, a chiefly western form, also found e. to Mich. and Ind., with the infl and twigs tomentose) (C. stolonifera)

• Common Names

  red osier-dogwood