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Cornus stolonifera Michx.

Red Osier Dogwood

Modern name

Cornus sericea L.

Synonyms

C. alba of many authors, not L.; Swida stolonifera (Michx.) Rydb.; Thelycrania stolonifera (Michx.) Pojark.

A vigorous deciduous shrub up to 8 ft high, suckering freely, and spreading by underground stems; bark of young shoots dark purplish red, glabrous. Leaves ovate, oval or oval-lanceolate, with long, tapered points; 2 to 5 in. long, 1 to 212 in. wide; upper surface dark green, lower one glaucous, both with flattened hairs; veins in about five pairs; stalk 12 to 1 in. long. Flowers dull white, small, in cymes 1 to 2 in. across. Fruit white, globose, 15 in. across.

Native of N. America, reaching across the continent. It is closely allied to the Eurosiberian species C. alba and by some authors regarded as a subspecies of it. It differs in its stoloniferous habit, more abruptly pointed leaves, and in the stones of the fruits, which are as broad as high, and rounded at the base.

cv. ‘Flaviramea’. – Bark of young shoots greenish yellow, and effective in winter, especially if associated with C. alba ‘Sibirica’. Sent out by Späth in 1899.



From the Supplement (Vol. V)

cv. ‘Flaviramea’. – Some plants distributed under this name are the green-stemmed ‘Nitida’ (R. Lancaster, The Garden (Journ. R.H.S.) Vol. 105 (1980), p. 114).

† cv. ‘Kelseyi’. – With the stoloniferous habit of the species, but with the stems much branched and only 2ft high. Suitable for ground-cover, though not in a choice position.

† cv. ‘Nitida’. – Young stems green during the first winter. Described from a cultivated plant, which also differed from the typical state in its larger, more glossy leaves (C. alba var. nitida Koehne; C. stolonifera var. nitida (Koehne) Schneid).

Genus

Cornus

Other species in the genus