Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants

Class: Magnoliopsida -- dicots

Order: Cornales

Family: Cornaceae -- dogwood

Common Name: red osier dogwood

Species Code: COSE16

Origin: Cornus sericea ssp. occidentalis is native to moist to wet areas, riparian areas, and moist woods of western North America from Alaska south to California and east to western Montana and Nevada. Cornus sericea ssp. sericea is more widespread, ranging over much of North America except the southeast and south central US in similar habitats to ssp. occidentalis. There is much intergradation between the two intraspecific taxa.

Rare: no

Form: shrub; many stemmed, 2-6 meters (7-20 ft) tall, usually spreading by stem layering; buds opposite, with one pair of bud scales; stems slender, pith round and white.

Duration: perennial

Longevity: long

Habitat Type: riparian, hawthorn thickets, wetlands, forest

Wetland Indicator Status: FACW

Leaves: Opposite, deciduous, simple, entire, ovate 4-12 cm long, with unique, 5-7 prominent upcurving and parallel veins, that converge at the tip of the leaf; this vein pattern is unique to native Rocky Mountain Cornus species. Leaves turning dark red to purple in autumn.

Mature height: 7-20 feet

Flowers: small, white 2-4 mm long, in flat-topped terminal cymes, not showy.

Flower color: white

Bloom: May, June

Bloom starts on: late May

Bloom ends on: early June

Fruit: small, bitter, white, berrylike drupe, 7-9 mm long

Characteristics:
Cornus stolonifera in Hitchcock et al 1969, St. John 1963, and Piper & Beattie 1914.
Sometimes referred to as stoloniferous, but this is a misinterpretation of the tendency for decumbent stems to root where they contact the soil surface.
The bark turns dark red to purplish-red as the stem become acclimated to cold temperatures and green as the plants leave winter dormancy in the spring. The change to red coloration is related to photoperiod and is indicative of cold hardiness of the stems. It is a result of increased anthocyanin and decreased chlorophyll in the stems (Smithberg & Weiser 1968, van Huystee et al 1967).
Reproduces both sexually by seed and vegetatively by layering.
17,260-26,700 seeds/lb (Hassell et al 1996).
18,500 seeds/lb for ssp. occidentalis and 18,400 for ssp. sericea (USDA NRCS PLANTS Database 2009).
Seed is stored in the seed bank (Crane 1989).
Seed is dispersed mainly by birds.
Flowers are perfect.
Fruit is a drupe.
Fruits are eaten by wildlife. Twigs and winter buds are browsed by deer, elk, and moose.
Kufeld (1973) calls it a valuable forage for Rocky Mountain elk in summer, fall, and winter, but Stubbendieck et al (1997) consider it of little value to livestock or big game.
Bark was used for cordage (Lyons 1999).
All parts of the plant are poisonous if consumed in large quantities (Tilford 1997).
The stems and bark are used in basketry. Some native peoples ate the drupes and used the plants medicinally.
Flowers are self sterile, outcrossing is obligate (Eyde 1988, Gunatilleke & Gunatilleke 1984).
Pollinated by Apis mellifera, Bombus spp., and an Andrena sp. (Gunatilleke & Gunatilleke 1984). Beetles, flies, and butterflies may also be pollinators (Eyde 1988).
2n=22 (Pijut 2004) (this is probably for the eastern phase).
For ssp. sericeus x=11, 2n=22, diploids only (University of British Columbia 2003).

Sun requirement: full to partial sun

Soil moisture: mesic to wet

Precipitation: 24-60 inches (USDA NRCS PLANTS Database 2009).

Fire: Roots survive all but the most severe fires. Increases following fire from resprouts of the roots and from seed in the soil (Crane 1989).

Sowing time: fall

Transplant time: spring

Stratification: cold moist

Seed yield: high

Seed harvest: medium difficulty

Seed cleaning: medium difficulty

Planting duration: long

Seed insect problem: none noted

Seed shatter: medium

Seed size: large

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Key words: shrub wetland riparian

Propagation:
8 protocols in the Native Plant Network
University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
George O. White State Forest Nursery, Missouri
Glacier National Park, MT, vegetative
Glacier National Park, MT, seeds
Golden Gate National Park, CA, seeds
Lone Peak Nursery, Utah
Lone Peak Nursery, Utah

Other Propagation Information:
Seed germination is influenced by source population and by local weather conditions during seed formation (Acharya et al 1992).
60-90 days cold moist stratification at 3-5 ^oC. Dried seed stores 2-4 years at 3-5 ^oC (Rose et al 1998).
Can be propagated vegetatively from hardwood or softwood cuttings. Cuttings from Inland Northwest sources reportedly have a lower rooting success rate than cutting from coastal sources.
Reproduces both sexually by seed and vegetatively by layering.

References:
Acharya, S.N., C.B. Chu, R. Hermesh, and G.B. Schaalje. 1992. Factors Affecting Red-osier Dogwood Seed Germination. Canadian Journal of Botany 70:1012-1016.

Brinkman, Kenneth A., and Victor Vankus. undated. Cornus L. dogwood. In: Bonner, Franklin T., and Rebecca G. Nisley (eds.). Woody Plant Seed Manual. USDA Forest Service. Available online at http://www.nsl.fs.fed.us/wpsm/

Crane, M. F. 1989. Cornus sericea. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ [2009, August 3].

Davis, Ray J. 1952. Flora of Idaho. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown. 827 pp.

Eyde, R.H. 1988. Comprehending Cornus: Puzzles and Progress in the Systematics of the Dogwoods. Botanical Review 54:233-351.

Fosberg, F.R. 1942. Cornus sericea L. (C. stolonifera Michx.). Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 69:583-589.

Gunatilleke, C.V.S., and Gunatilleke, I.A.U.N. 1984. Some Observations on the Reproductive Biology of Three Species of Cornus (Cornaceae). Journal of the Arnold Arboretum. 65:419-427.

Hassell, Wendell, W. Rocky Beavers, Steve Ouellette, and Thomas Mitchell. 1996. Seeding Rate Statistics for Native and Introduced Species. Denver, CO: US Dept of Interior and USDA, NRCS.

Hitchcock, C. Leo, and Arthur Cronquist. 1973. Flora of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle, WA: Univ. of Washington Press.

Hitchcock, C. Leo, Arthur Cronquist, Marion Ownbey, and J.W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 5 vol.

Kufeld, Roland. 1973. Foods Eaten by the Rocky Mountain Elk. Journal of Range Management 26:106-113.

Lyons, C.P. 1999. Trees and Shrubs of Washington. Edmonton, AB, Canada: Lone Pine Publishing.

Nichols, G.E. 1934. The Influence of Exposure to Winter Temperatures upon Seed Germination in Various Native American Plants. Ecology 15:364-373.

Pijut, P.M. 2004. Cornus sericea. p 249-251 In: Francis, John K. (editor). 2004. Wildland Shrubs of the United States and Its Territories: Thamnic Descriptions: Volume 1. San Juan, Puerto Rico: USDA, Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and Fort Collins, CO: USDA, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Gen. Tech. Report IITF-GTR-26. 839 p.

Piper, C.V., and R.K. Beattie. 1914. The Flora of Southeastern Washington and Adjacent Idaho. Lancaster, PA: Press of the New Era Printing Company. 296 pp.

Rose, Robin, Caryn E.C. Chachulski, and Diane L. Haase. 1998. Propagation of Pacific Northwest Native Plants. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press.

St. John, Harold. 1963. Flora of Southeastern Washington and of Adjacent Idaho. 3rd edition. Escondido, CA: Outdoor Pictures.

Smithberg, Margaret H., and Conrad J. Weiser. 1968. Patterns of Variation Among Climatic Races of Red-osier Dogwood. Ecology 49:495-505.

Stubbendieck, James, Stephan L. Hatch, and Charles H. Butterfield. 1997. North American Range Plants. 5th edition. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. 501 pp.

Tilford, Gregory L. 1997. Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publ. Co.

University of British Columbia. 2003. British Columbia Flora. University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research. Online at http://www.bcflora.org/ Accessed 1/1/06.

USDA NRCS. 2009. The PLANTS Database. Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA: National Plant Data Center. http://plants.usda.gov, 2 August 2009.

van Huystee, Robert B., C.J. Weiser, and P.H. Li. 1967. Cold Acclimation in Cornus stolonifera under Natural and Controlled Photoperiod and Temperature. Botanical Gazette 128:200-205.

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species account from the Fire Effects Information System
Species information from the University of Washington Herbarium
Plant Guide from the USDA PLANTS Database