Cornus sericea

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Cornus sericea
Red Osier Dogwood.jpg
Red osier dogwood bearing fruit
Status TNC G5.svg
Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Cornales
Family: Cornaceae
Genus: Cornus
Subgenus: Cornus subg. Kraniopsis
Species:
C. sericea
Binomial name
Cornus sericea
L.
Cornus sericea ssp sericea range map 1.png
Natural range of subsp. sericea
Cornus sericea ssp occidentalis range map 1.png
Natural range of subsp. occidentalis
Synonyms

C. stolonifera, Swida sericea

Cornus sericea, the red osier or red-osier dogwood, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the family Cornaceae, native to much of North America. It has sometimes been considered a synonym of the Asian species Cornus alba . Other names include red brush, red willow, [3] [4] [5] redstem dogwood, [3] [5] redtwig dogwood, red-rood, American dogwood, [3] creek dogwood, and western dogwood. [3]

Contents

Description

It is a medium to tall deciduous shrub, growing 1.5–4 metres (5–13 feet) tall and 3–5 m (10–16+1⁄2 ft) wide, spreading readily by underground stolons to form dense thickets. The branches and twigs are dark red, although wild plants may lack this coloration in shaded areas.

The leaves are opposite, 5–12 centimetres (2–4+1⁄2 inches) long and 2.5–6 cm (1–2+1⁄2 in) broad, with an ovate to oblong shape and an entire margin; they are dark green above and glaucous below; fall color is commonly bright red to purple. Like all dogwoods, they have characteristic stringy white piths within the leaf stalks, which can be used for identification. [6]

The flowers are 5–10 millimetres (1⁄4–3⁄8 in) wide, flat, umbel-like and dull white, in clusters 3–6 cm across.

The fruit is a globose white berry 5–9 mm in diameter.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

It is a variable species, with two subspecies commonly accepted:

Etymology

The Latin specific epithet sericea means "silky", referring to the texture of the leaves. [7]

Distribution and habitat

It is native throughout boreal and temperate zones in northern and western North America from Alaska east to Newfoundland, south to Durango and Nuevo León in the west, and Illinois and Virginia in the east.

Cornus sericea L. has been recorded from counties Antrim and Londonderry in Northern Ireland. [8]

In the wild, the species most commonly grows in areas of rich, poorly drained soils, such as riparian zones and wetlands, or in upland areas which receive more than 510 mm (20 in) of annual precipitation. More uncommonly, it may be found in drier zones albeit at lesser abundance. Red osier dogwood is tolerant of flooding and has been known to survive up to seven years of water above root crown level. It occurs from sea level to 3,000 m (10,000 ft), but in many areas is most common above 460 m (1,500 ft). [9]

Ecology

Red osier dogwood provides food and cover for many species of mammals and birds. The stems and especially new shoots are browsed by moose, elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, beavers, and rabbits, while the fruits are an important autumn food source for bears, small mammals, and 47 different bird species. In winter, red osier dogwood is heavily browsed by ungulates; in some areas use exceeds availability and individuals which have not been browsed are rare. The shrub is also important for nesting habitat and cover for a great variety of animals. [9]

Cornus sericea is shade tolerant but prefers intermediate to high light levels. It tolerates disturbance well, and appears early in both primary and secondary succession throughout its native range, but especially in floodplains and riparian zones. It thrives in fire-disturbed sites, sprouting from seeds or damaged shrubs. [9]

Although its conservation status is overall secure, it is considered vulnerable in Iowa and critically imperiled in Kentucky and Virginia. [1]

Cultivation

Cornus sericea is a popular ornamental shrub that is often planted for the red coloring of its twigs in the dormant season. The cultivars 'Bud's Yellow', [10] 'Flaviramea' [11] with lime green stems, and 'Hedgerows Gold' [12] (variegated foliage) have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed in 2017). [13]

Like most dogwood species native to North America, C. sericea can be parasitized by the dogwood sawfly, possibly leaving much of the plant devoid of leaves. A variety of pesticides are effective; however, hand-picking the larvae is also an option.[ citation needed ]

Uses

Cornus sericea is frequently used for waterway bank erosion protection and restoration in the United States and Canada. Its root system provides excellent soil retention, it is hardy and provides an attractive shrub even when bare in winter, and its ability to be reproduced by cuttings makes it a low-cost solution for large-scale plantings. [14] [15]

Some Plateau Indigenous tribes ate the berries to treat colds and to slow bleeding. [16] [17]

Known as čhaŋšáša in Lakota, the inner bark was also used by the Lakota and other Native Americans as "traditional tobacco", either by itself or in a mixture with other plant materials. [18] [19] Among the Algonquian peoples such as the Ojibwe, the smoking mixtures, known as kinnikinnick, blended the inner bark with tobacco, [4] while more western tribes added it to the bearberry leaf to improve the taste. [16] [20]

The Ojibwe used red-osier dogwood bark as a dye by taking the inner bark and mixing it with other plants or minerals. [3]

The withies, or osiers, are used in basketry.

Related Research Articles

<i>Cornus florida</i> Species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae

Cornus florida, the flowering dogwood, is a species of flowering tree in the family Cornaceae native to eastern North America and northern Mexico. An endemic population once spanned from southernmost coastal Maine south to northern Florida and west to the Mississippi River. The tree is commonly planted as an ornamental in residential and public areas because of its showy bracts and interesting bark structure.

<i>Ptelea trifoliata</i> Species of tree

Ptelea trifoliata, commonly known as common hoptree, wafer ash, stinking ash, and skunk bush, is a species of flowering plant in the citrus family (Rutaceae). It is native to North America, where it is found in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It is a deciduous shrub or tree, with alternate, trifoliate leaves.

<i>Cornus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the dogwood family Cornaceae

Cornus is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods or cornels, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and some species are evergreen. Several species have small heads of inconspicuous flowers surrounded by an involucre of large, typically white petal-like bracts, while others have more open clusters of petal-bearing flowers. The various species of dogwood are native throughout much of temperate and boreal Eurasia and North America, with China, Japan, and the southeastern United States being particularly rich in native species.

<i>Cercis canadensis</i> Species of tree

Cercis canadensis, the eastern redbud, is a large deciduous shrub or small tree, native to eastern North America from southern Michigan south to central Mexico, west to New Mexico. Species thrive as far west as California and as far north as southern Ontario. It is the state tree of Oklahoma. The prevalence of the so-called "Columbus strain" has seen the residents of Columbus, Wisconsin, embrace the plant in their city's identity. Known as the "Redbud City," the town hosts "Redbud Day" annually the Saturday before Mother's Day, organizing a variety of themed events to recognize the tree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bearberry</span> Common name for several plant species

Bearberries are three species of dwarf shrubs in the genus Arctostaphylos. Unlike the other species of Arctostaphylos, they are adapted to Arctic and subarctic climates, and have a circumpolar distribution in northern North America, Asia and Europe.

<i>Alnus rubra</i> Species of tree

Alnus rubra, the red alder, is a deciduous broadleaf tree native to western North America.

<i>Prunus virginiana</i> Species of plant

Prunus virginiana, commonly called bitter-berry, chokecherry, Virginia bird cherry, and western chokecherry, is a species of bird cherry native to North America.

<i>Arctostaphylos uva-ursi</i> Species of fruit and plant

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi is a plant species of the genus Arctostaphylos widely distributed across circumboreal regions of the subarctic Northern Hemisphere. Kinnikinnick is a common name in Canada and the United States. Growing up to 30 centimetres in height, the leaves are evergreen. The flowers are white to pink and the fruit is a red berry.

<i>Cornus kousa</i> Species of tree commonly known as kousa dogwood

Cornus kousa is a small deciduous tree 8–12 m (26–39 ft) tall, in the flowering plant family Cornaceae. Common names include kousa, kousa dogwood, Chinese dogwood, Korean dogwood, and Japanese dogwood. Synonyms are Benthamia kousa and Cynoxylon kousa. It is a plant native to East Asia including Korea, China and Japan. Widely cultivated as an ornamental, it is naturalized in New York State.

<i>Cornus nuttallii</i> Species of plant

Cornus nuttallii, the Pacific dogwood,western dogwood, or mountain dogwood, is a species of dogwood tree native to western North America. The tree's name used by Hul'q'umi'num'-speaking nations is Kwi’txulhp.

<i>Cornus canadensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Cornus canadensis is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to eastern Asia and North America. Common names include Canadian dwarf cornel, Canadian bunchberry, quatre-temps, crackerberry, and creeping dogwood. Unlike its relatives, which are for the most part substantial trees and shrubs, C. canadensis is a creeping, rhizomatous perennial growing to about 20 centimetres tall.

<i>Cornus racemosa</i> Species of tree

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.

<i>Cornus mas</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Cornaceae

Cornus mas, commonly known as cornel, is a species of shrub or small tree in the dogwood family Cornaceae native to Western Europe, Southern Europe, and Southwestern Asia.

<i>Acer ginnala</i> Species of plant

Acer ginnala, the Amur maple, is a plant species with woody stems native to northeastern Asia from easternmost Mongolia east to Korea and Japan, and north to the Russian Far East in the Amur River valley. It is a small maple with deciduous leaves that is sometimes grown as a garden subject or boulevard tree.

<i>Cornus alternifolia</i> Species of tree

Cornus alternifolia is a species of flowering plant in the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to southern Manitoba and Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Mississippi. It is rare in the southern United States. It is commonly known as green osier, alternate-leaved dogwood, and pagoda dogwood.

<i>Cornus alba</i> Species of flowering plant

Cornus alba, the red-barked, white or Siberian dogwood, is a species of flowering plant in the family Cornaceae, native to Siberia, northern China and Korea. It is a large deciduous surculose (suckering) shrub that can be grown as a small tree. As a popular ornamental used in landscaping its notable features include the red stems in fall (autumn) through late winter, bright winter bark; and the variegated foliage in some cultivars, such as C. alba 'Elegantissima'. C. alba can grow to 3 m (10 ft) high, but variegated forms are less vigorous. For the brightest winter bark, young shoots are encouraged by cutting to the ground some older stems at the end of the winter, before leaves are open. The oval fruits are white, sometimes tinted blue.

<i>Lonicera involucrata</i> Species of honeysuckle

Lonicera involucrata, the bearberry honeysuckle, bracted honeysuckle, twinberry honeysuckle, Californian Honeysuckle, twin-berry, or black twinberry, is a species of honeysuckle native to northern and western North America.

<i>Cornus amomum</i> Species of flowering plant

Cornus amomum, the silky dogwood, is a species of dogwood native to the southern Ontario and eastern United States, from Michigan and Vermont south to Alabama and Florida. Other names include red willow, silky cornel, kinnikinnick, and squawbush.

Kinnikinnick is a Native American and First Nations herbal smoking mixture, made from a traditional combination of leaves or barks. Recipes for the mixture vary, as do the uses, from social, to spiritual to medicinal.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Cornus sericea". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  2. ↑ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 USDA NRCS Plant Guide: REDOSIER DOGWOOD. May, 2006
  4. 1 2 Hilger, Inez (1951, repr. 1992) Chippewa Child Life and Its Cultural Background, page 63
  5. 1 2 Hart, Jeff, and Jacqueline Moore (1992). Montana—native plants and early peoples, pages 38–39. Montana Historical Society. ISBN   0-917298-29-2
  6. ↑ Fertig, Walter. "Plant of the Week- Red Osier Dogwood". USDA Forest Service. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  7. ↑ Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. p. 224. ISBN   9781845337315.
  8. ↑ Hackney, P. 1992. "Stewart & Corry's Flora of the North-east of Ireland." Third edition. Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast. ISBN   0-85389-446-9 (HB)
  9. 1 2 3 Corey, Gucker. "Fire Effects Information System". Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  10. ↑ "RHS Plantfinder – Cornus sericea 'Bud's Yellow'" . Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  11. ↑ "RHS Plant Selector – Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea'" . Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  12. ↑ "RHS Plantfinder – Cornus sericea 'Hedgerows Gold'" . Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "AGM Plants – Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 16. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  14. ↑ "Home". Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  15. ↑ http://www.northjersey.com/news/139671573_Boro_decides_to_fund_PRC_bank_stabilization_project__.html [ bare URL ]
  16. 1 2 Moerman, Daniel E. (1998) "Cornus sericea ssp. occidentallis" Native American ethnobotany Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, page 178, ISBN   0-88192-453-9
  17. ↑ Hunn, Eugene S. (1990). Nch'i-Wana, "The Big River": Mid-Columbia Indians and Their Land. University of Washington Press. p. 353. ISBN   0-295-97119-3.
  18. ↑ "Herbal lore: Red Osier Dogwood". Archived from the original on 2012-05-11. Retrieved 2011-04-29.
  19. ↑ Cutler, Charles L. (2002) Tracks that speak: the legacy of Native American words in North American culture, page 176. ISBN   0-618-06510-5
  20. ↑ Staff (2009) "Bearberry" Archived 2010-12-18 at the Wayback Machine Discovering Lewis and Clark The Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation

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