Cornus stolonifera : Red-osier Dogwood

Scientific Name:

Kingdom: Plantae

Division:

• Tracheophyta (vascular)
• Spermatophyta (seed bearing)
Angiospermae (enclosed seed)

Class: Dicoteldonae (two seed-leaves)

Family: Cornaceae (Dogwood Family)

Genera: Cornus (Dogwood) (Lat. cornu= ahorn of leather; referring to the hardness of the wood)

Species: stolonifera (Lat. stolo=a shoot; reffering to the stolons of these plants)

English Name(s):

Red-osier Dogwood,

First Nation Names:

Structure:

• Stoloniferous (woth rooting branches) shrubs, 1-3 meter tall.
• Bark reddish brown.
• Lower branches often prostrate and freely rooting.

Leaves:

• Opposite, blades 3-12cm long by 1.5-8 cm wide, petiolate (on stalks).
• Ovate to oblong-lanceolate in shape.
• Dark green above, glaucous (gray waxy) below.
• Margins entire (smooth).

Reproductive Parts:

• Flowers in an open, flat-toped cyme.
• Ovaries inferior (within receptacle), greenish when young, with hairs.
• Petals tiny, white, 2-4 mm long.
• Sepals tiny, yellowish.

Seed:

• Drupes white to blueish-white, 6-8 mm in diameter.
• Fruit are drupes (berries) borne in clusters.

Not to Be Confused With:

Physiology:

Life Cycle:

• Perennial

Seasonal Cycle:

• Blooms later than C.canadensis (Bunchberry). Putting its blooming time around mid- to late July.
• Leaves deciduous (falling).

Animal Uses:

Habitat:

• Moist woods, thickets, and clearings.

Modern:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

Food:

Traditional Gwich'in:

Folklore:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

Food:

Traditional Other:

Folklore:

Industrial:

Medicinal:

Food: