Cornus sericea

Cornus sericea L.

by Bea Cooley, Native Plants class, 2003
Common name: Red-osier dogwood
Family: Cornaceae
Synonymy: C. stolonifera, C. alba and Svida sericea (1)
Etymology: from the Latin cornu, meaning hard wood (4) and the French osier, meaning willow-like(3)

Identification: (1,4)
Growth form: Freely branching shrub to 1.5 to 6m tall, often forms thickets along streambanks; spreads by underground and prostrate stems and seeds distributed principally by songbirds.
Roots:
Stem: Twigs and young stems bright red, fading to gray-green and turning red again in fall
Leaves: Simple, opposite, dark green tinged with pink above, pale green or whitish below, oval to elliptical to 12 cm long and with prominent lateral veins 5-7 per side which curve toward the tips
Inflorescence/flowers: flowers white with 4 petals in a flat compound cyme 2-6 cm across. Lacks the showy bracts of many dogwood species
Fruit: White (sometimes bluish), berry-like drupes, 5-9 mm across, with a stone that is brownish-black, having 7-9 vertical yellow stripes (1)
Similar species: This subspecies is likely var. sericea. Var. occidentalis Torr. and A. Gray, is represented east of the Cascade-Sierran axis and in N. Washington and N. Idaho (4).

Ecology
Life history: Perennial shrub
Native/introduced: Native
Photosynthetic pathway:
Phenology: Flowers May and June.
Distribution: 5000' - 9000', along streams and in forest openings and as an open understory plant. Southern Yukon to New Mexico and transcontinental to Pennsylvania. In Arizona, found in Ponderosa Pine and Douglas fir forests. (2)

Uses
Thin branches are used for red trim on baskets; fruits are mixed with sweet berries or sugar to make "sweet-and-sour"; inner bark is dried and mixed with tobacco or kinnikinnick for smoking in the sacred pipe ceremonies (3)(1). According to Strike (3), California Indians used peeled twigs as toothbrushes because of their whitening effect on teeth. Many parts of the plant are used medicinally including bark as anti-diarrheal and for the rash caused by poison ivy(3). The plant is also used as a tonic, laxative, emetic and cathartic. It is fair to good forage for a number of species, including deer and elk and provides cover and nesting for birds and other wildlife. "Red-stemmed dogwood" is valued as an attractive landscaping material because of its spring blossoms and resulting fruit and especially for its red, leafless stems in winter. Propagation is most effective using stems that have rooted at nodes.
Physiology: C. sericea has an interesting response to low temperatures. From work by Chen(5), it is known that the plant sequesters "freezable water" in extracellular spaces, avoiding crystal formation in its cells. This effect is magnified in plants that are water-stressed and the plants apparently actively exclude water in response to short days, resulting in increased cold-hardiness.

References
1. Kershaw,Linda, Andy MacKinnon, Jim Pojar. Plants of the Rocky Mountains. 1998. Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton, Canada. p 71.

2. Epple, Anne Orth. Plants of Arizona. 1995. The Globe Pequot Press, Guilford,Connecticut. p. 179.

3. USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

4. Cronquist, Arthur, Noel H. Holmgren, Patricia K. Holmgren. Intermountain Flora, Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A., Volume 3, Part A. 1997. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. pp. 245-246.

5. http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/corser/botanical_and_ecological_characteristics.html

6. McDougall, W.B., Seed Plants of Northern Arizona, 1973, Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art, Flagstaff, p. 351.

Cornus sericea L. by Bea Cooley, Native Plants class, 2003 Common name: Red-osier dogwood Family: Cornaceae Synonymy: C. stolonifera, C. alba and Svida sericea (1) Etymology: from the Latin cornu, meaning hard wood (4) and the French osier, meaning willow-like(3) Identification: (1,4) Growth form: Freely branching shrub to 1.5 to 6m tall, often forms thickets along streambanks; spreads by underground and prostrate stems and seeds distributed principally by songbirds. Roots: Stem: Twigs and young stems bright red, fading to gray-green and turning red again in fall Leaves: Simple, opposite, dark green tinged with pink above, pale green or whitish below, oval to elliptical to 12 cm long and with prominent lateral veins 5-7 per side which curve toward the tips Inflorescence/flowers: flowers white with 4 petals in a flat compound cyme 2-6 cm across. Lacks the showy bracts of many dogwood species Fruit: White (sometimes bluish), berry-like drupes, 5-9 mm across, with a stone that is brownish-black, having 7-9 vertical yellow stripes (1) Similar species: This subspecies is likely var. sericea. Var. occidentalis Torr. and A. Gray, is represented east of the Cascade-Sierran axis and in N. Washington and N. Idaho (4). Ecology Life history: Perennial shrub Native/introduced: Native Photosynthetic pathway: Phenology: Flowers May and June. Distribution: 5000' - 9000', along streams and in forest openings and as an open understory plant. Southern Yukon to New Mexico and transcontinental to Pennsylvania. In Arizona, found in Ponderosa Pine and Douglas fir forests. (2) Uses Thin branches are used for red trim on baskets; fruits are mixed with sweet berries or sugar to make "sweet-and-sour"; inner bark is dried and mixed with tobacco or kinnikinnick for smoking in the sacred pipe ceremonies (3)(1). According to Strike (3), California Indians used peeled twigs as toothbrushes because of their whitening effect on teeth. Many parts of the plant are used medicinally including bark as anti-diarrheal and for the rash caused by poison ivy(3). The plant is also used as a tonic, laxative, emetic and cathartic. It is fair to good forage for a number of species, including deer and elk and provides cover and nesting for birds and other wildlife. "Red-stemmed dogwood" is valued as an attractive landscaping material because of its spring blossoms and resulting fruit and especially for its red, leafless stems in winter. Propagation is most effective using stems that have rooted at nodes. Physiology: C. sericea has an interesting response to low temperatures. From work by Chen(5), it is known that the plant sequesters "freezable water" in extracellular spaces, avoiding crystal formation in its cells. This effect is magnified in plants that are water-stressed and the plants apparently actively exclude water in response to short days, resulting in increased cold-hardiness. References 1. Kershaw,Linda, Andy MacKinnon, Jim Pojar. Plants of the Rocky Mountains. 1998. Lone Pine Publishing, Edmonton, Canada. p 71. 2. Epple, Anne Orth. Plants of Arizona. 1995. The Globe Pequot Press, Guilford,Connecticut. p. 179. 3. USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA. 4. Cronquist, Arthur, Noel H. Holmgren, Patricia K. Holmgren. Intermountain Flora, Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A., Volume 3, Part A. 1997. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. pp. 245-246. 5. http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/corser/botanical_and_ecological_characteristics.html 6. McDougall, W.B., Seed Plants of Northern Arizona, 1973, Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art, Flagstaff, p. 351.