Cornus sericea

Linnaeus

Mant. Pl. 2: 199. 1771.

Common names: Red-osier dogwood cornouiller stolonifère hart rouge
Illustrated
Synonyms: Cornus alba subsp. baileyi (J. M. Coulter & W. H. Evans) Wangerin C. alba subsp. stolonifera (Michaux) Wangerin C. baileyi J. M. Coulter & W. H. Evans C. instolonea A. Nelson C. interior (Rydberg) N. Petersen C. nelsonii Rose C. stolonifera Michaux Swida interior Rydberg S. stolonifera (Michaux) Rydberg S. stolonifera var. riparia Rydberg
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 12. Treatment on page 453. Mentioned on page 450, 451, 454.

Shrubs, to 4 m, flowering at 1 m; rhizomes absent. Stems clustered, branches occasionally arching to the ground and rooting at nodes; bark yellow to red, not corky, loosely verrucose; branchlets bright red, reddish-brown, maroon, or green, occasionally green in winter and maroon in summer, appressed-hairy when young; lenticels protruding on 2d year branches, area surrounding them not suffused with purple on older branches; pith white. Leaves: petiole 5–38 mm; blade lanceolate, elliptic, or ovate, 3.5–20 × 1.5–12 cm, base cuneate, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface white, hairs appressed except near secondary-vein axils, tufts of erect hairs present in axils of secondary-veins, adaxial surface green, hairs appressed, sparse; secondary-veins 5–7 per side, most arising from proximal 1/2, tertiary-veins not prominent. Inflorescences flat-topped, 3–6 cm diam., peduncle 20–40 mm; branches and pedicels green to yellow-green, turning maroon in fruit. Flowers: hypanthium densely appressed-hairy; sepals 0.2–0.6 mm; petals white to cream, 2.5–4 mm. Drupes white, globose or subglobose, 6–10 mm diam.; stone subglobose, laterally compressed, 4–6 × 4–6 × 1.5–3 mm, furrowed laterally, apex rounded. 2n = 22.


Phenology: Flowering May–Jun and Sep–Oct; fruiting Aug–Oct.
Habitat: Wet meadows, thickets, edges of mesic upland forests, fens, marshes, swamps, stream banks, lake shores, river banks.
Elevation: 0–2500 m.

Distribution

V12 797-distribution-map.jpg

St. Pierre and Miquelon, Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld. and Labr., N.W.T., N.S., Ont., P.E.I., Que., Sask., Yukon, Alaska, Ariz., Calif., Colo., Conn., Del., Idaho, Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.H., N.J., N.Mex., N.Y., N.Dak., Ohio, Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.Dak., Utah, Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis., Wyo., Mexico (Chihuahua), Mexico (Durango), Mexico (Nuevo León), w Europe

Discussion

As the synonymy implies, Cornus sericea has received considerable attention from taxonomists wishing to subdivide the species, presumably in order to make it more comprehensible. Most of the divisions have been based upon indumentum and stone differences, although habit has also been used. Although one of the synonyms and one of the common names imply a stoloniferous habit, the species is not stoloniferous; evidently, branch tips infrequently arching to the ground and rooting at the nodes led to confusion regarding the growth habit. H. W. Rickett (1944b) examined the morphology of the various forms, varieties, and subspecies, and found extensive overlap using fruit shape and indumentum differences. It is not known whether the variation is due to primary differentiation or secondary intergradation, and the complex is treated here as a single species. There is little doubt that the European species C. alba Linnaeus is closely related to C. sericea and should be included in any future studies of this species complex.

The name Cornus stolonifera has sometimes been applied to C. sericea (for example, H. W. Rickett 1944b) because the description by Linnaeus of the latter could apply to several currently recognized species. F. R. Fosberg (1942) lectotypified C. sericea, establishing that it applies to this species.

Cornus sericea is commonly planted as an ornamental and occasionally escapes; plants in suburban areas and in highly acidic soils are suspected as non-natural occurrences. Putative hybrids between C. sericea and C. rugosa have been called C. ×slavinii Rehder, and are reported from Maine, New York, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Wisconsin.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Cornus sericea"
versatile +  and dorsifixed +
rounded +, acute +  and acuminate +
not suffused +
curling +
ornamented +
Zack E. Murrell +  and Derick B. Poindexter +
Linnaeus +
yellow +  and red +
verrucose +
cuneate +
Cornus +
3.5 cm35 mm <br />0.035 m <br /> (20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br />) +
ovate +, elliptic +  and lanceolate +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (12 cm120 mm <br />0.12 m <br />) +
not petaloid +
alternate +, subopposite +, whorled +  and opposite +
green +  and yellow-green +
appressed-hairy +
Red-osier dogwood +, cornouiller stolonifère +  and hart rouge +
expanding +  and minute +
St. Pierre and Miquelon +, Alta. +, B.C. +, Man. +, N.B. +, Nfld. and Labr. +, N.W.T. +, N.S. +, Ont. +, P.E.I. +, Que. +, Sask. +, Yukon +, Alaska +, Ariz. +, Calif. +, Colo. +, Conn. +, Del. +, Idaho +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Iowa +, Kans. +, Ky. +, Maine +, Md. +, Mass. +, Mich. +, Minn. +, Mont. +, Nebr. +, Nev. +, N.H. +, N.J. +, N.Mex. +, N.Y. +, N.Dak. +, Ohio +, Oreg. +, Pa. +, R.I. +, S.Dak. +, Utah +, Vt. +, Va. +, Wash. +, W.Va. +, Wis. +, Wyo. +, Mexico (Chihuahua) +, Mexico (Durango) +, Mexico (Nuevo León) +  and w Europe +
0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
distinct +
subglobose +  and globose +
0–2500 m. +
Wet meadows, thickets, edges of mesic upland forests, fens, marshes, swamps, stream banks, lake shores, river banks. +
appressed-hairy +
urceolate +  and turbinate +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br />) +
terminal +  and axillary +
alternate +, subopposite +, whorled +  and opposite +
intrastaminal +
green +  and yellow-green +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br />) +
white +  and cream +
distinct +
recurved +  and spreading +
0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (3.8 cm38 mm <br />0.038 m <br />) +
Flowering May–Jun and Sep–Oct +  and fruiting Aug–Oct. +
[1-]2[-4]-carpellate +
connate +  and distinct +
0.02 cm0.2 mm <br />2.0e-4 m <br /> (0.06 cm0.6 mm <br />6.0e-4 m <br />) +
Illustrated +
free +  and distinct +
pointed +  and rounded +
1.5mm +  and 3mm +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
compressed +  and subglobose +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
Cornus alba subsp. baileyi +, C. alba subsp. stolonifera +, C. baileyi +, C. instolonea +, C. interior +, C. nelsonii +, C. stolonifera +, Swida interior +, S. stolonifera +  and S. stolonifera var. riparia +
Cornus sericea +
Cornus subg. Thelycrania +
species +
deciduous +  and perennial +