Cornus racemosa
{{Short description|Species of tree}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Northern Swamp Dogwood berries.jpg
| image_caption = Berries
| status = G5
| status_system = TNC
| genus = Cornus
| parent = Cornus subg. Kraniopsis
| species = racemosa
| authority = Lam.
| range_map = Cornus racemosa range map 1.png
| range_map_caption = Natural range of Cornus racemosa
- 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
}}
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.
Description
Gray dogwood grows {{cvt|1.2|to|3|m|ft|0}} high, rarely to {{cvt|8|m}}. It often sends up suckers from underground rhizomes, forming thickets. Its bark is gray and its twigs have white pith. The leaves are {{cvt|4–8|cm|in|frac=4}} long and {{cvt|1-4|cm|in|frac=4}} wide, and typically have 3 or 4 pairs of lateral veins, fewer than other dogwood species. The plant grows upright with a rounded habit, oppositely arranged leaves, and terminally born flowers. The white flowers are small, with four petals {{cvt|2.3|to|3|mm|in}} long, and clustered together in rounded clusters {{cvt|2.5|to|5|cm|in|frac=8}} wide called diachasial cymes, produced sometime between May and July. After flowering, green fruits (drupes) are produced, and they ripen and turn white from August to October. The flowers and fruit are attached to the plant by bright red pedicels. Many species of birds feed on the fruits. 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.
It occasionally hybridizes with Cornus amomum (silky dogwood), the products of which are named Cornus × arnoldiana.{{cite web |title=Cornus × arnoldiana|work=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=47284 |accessdate=2018-07-28}}
References
External links
{{Commons}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050829015617/http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/c/corrac/corrac1.html Cornus racemosa description with pictures]
- {{PLANTS |symbol=CORA6 |taxon=Cornus racemosa}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050506175047/http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/Syllabus2/factsheet.cfm?ID=821 Brief description and pictures]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1134291}}
Category:Flora of Eastern Canada
Category:Flora of the Northeastern United States
Category:Flora of the United States