Cornus amomum

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Cornus amomum
Cornus amomum flowers 01.JPG
Flowers.
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. amomum
Binomial name
Cornus amomum

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. [2] Other names include red willow, silky cornel, kinnikinnick, and squawbush. [3]

Contents

Description

Shrub. Cornus amomum form 01.JPG
Shrub.

Cornus amomum is a deciduous shrub growing to 5 m (16+12 ft) tall. The leaves are opposite, up to 10 cm (4 in) long and 7 cm (2+34 in) broad, oval with an acute apex. The flowers are produced in cymes. The fruit is a small blue drupe.[ citation needed ]Cornus amomum usually blooms between May and June, producing four-petalled showy yellowish white flowers.[ citation needed ]Cornus amomum leaves are rusty brown and pubescent, [4] occurring opposite from one another and usually having between 4 and 5 veins per leaf side. [5] If Cornus amomum is left unattended it will grow to create thickets and thick vegetative areas.

Taxonomy

Silky dogwood is usually included in the dogwood genus Cornus as Cornus amomumMill., although it is sometimes segregated in a separate genus as Swida amomum(Mill.) Small. The more northerly-occurring Cornus obliqua was formerly included in this species as Cornus amomum subsp. obliqua(Raf.) J.S. Wilson, but is now generally recognized as a distinct species.[ citation needed ]

Etymology

Cornus in Latin means horn, describing the dogwood's hard wood. Amomum in Latin means eastern spice.[ citation needed ]

Distribution and habitat

Cornus amomum is a native eastern North American shrub, finding suitable habitat in wetland areas like swamps, marshes, and bogs.[ citation needed ] The distribution of the shrub also extends west past the Mississippi river to the eastern borders of Kansas, Nebraska, and parts of northern Oklahoma. Cornus amomum is only found within the U.S. while other species such as the Cornus obliqua can be found in Canada. [6] Cornus amomum prefers partial shade but can tolerate full sun. [7] When planted, the use of organic materials to maintain a wet environment will help the shrub when insufficient water is present. Cornus amomum grows near or around creeks or water systems. [4] Cornus amomum can be found in the following states: West Virginia, Virginia, Vermont, South Carolina, Maine, Kentucky, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Georgia, Florida, District of Columbia, Delaware, Connecticut, Alabama, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Cornus amomum has been found at elevations from 0 feet to 1500 feet of elevation. [1]

Conservation

Based on the IUCN Red List classification, The conservation status of Cornus amomum is a Least Concern plant. [1] While Cornus amomum is recognized as Least Concern across the eastern parts of North America, Indiana has Cornus amomum ranked as an endangered plant throughout the state. [8]

Ecology

Fruit. Cornus amomum 03.jpg
Fruit.

Cornus amomum is primarily used by song birds, insects and rodents for its fruits which are produced in summer. Land dwelling mammals such as white-tailed deer and elk feast on the fruit as well. Cornus amomum uses the animals as a method of seed dispersal. As Cornus amomum fruit decay, frugivores tend to pick only the ripe fruit and seeds, which destroy good seeds that would otherwise be dropped and grow. [9] Cornus amomum has been marked as a pollinator plant, supporting and attracting bees, butterflies, and flies. It is a host plant for butterflies, providing food during their larval stage. [10]

Uses

The dogwood family is desired for ornamental uses in landscapes across the United States. Dogwoods are valued by gardeners for their spring flowers, summer foliage, fruit and leaf color. [5] Each species of dogwood has their own unique look, Cornus amomum is a shrub which can be used in places of excess runoff or areas of water collection in a landscape as it thrives in moist to wet soil conditions. The shrub provides beautiful colors throughout the spring, summer and fall. Cornus amomum has also been used in the outdoors to help with erosion control along slopes and steep inclines, it can be planted by farmers and landowners to provide a windbreaks for homes and agriculture fields, its uses can include building natural borders between land and for wildlife conservation, and it can be used to provide habitat for many types of wildlife. [11] Finally, Cornus amomum can minimize stream bank erosion and add stabilization along bank when coupled together with other well rooted trees and shrubs like willows. Some problems can arise from the use of Cornus amomum as a natural border, mostly as a border for wildlife and livestock. While the shrubs create a useful barrier, grazing wildlife and livestock tend to damage much of the shrub when the fruit are ripe. Other than that, there are no impending diseases or pest which would pose any sort of problem for the shrub.[ citation needed ]

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>Feijoa sellowiana</i> Species of plant in the myrtle family

Feijoa sellowiana also known as Acca sellowiana (O.Berg) Burret, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. It is native to the highlands of southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, Uruguay, and northern Argentina. Feijoa are also common in gardens of New Zealand. It is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree and for its fruit. Common names include feijoa, pineapple guava and guavasteen, although it is not a true guava. It is an evergreen shrub or small tree, 1–7 metres (3.3–23.0 ft) in height.

<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, 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>Elaeagnus umbellata</i> Species of flowering plant

Elaeagnus umbellata is known as Japanese silverberry, umbellata oleaster, autumn olive, autumn elaeagnus, spreading oleaster,. or autumnberry or autumn berry. The species is indigenous to eastern Asia and ranges from the Himalayas eastwards to Japan. It is a hardy, aggressive invasive species able to readily colonize barren land, becoming a troublesome plant in the central and northeastern United States and Europe.

<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 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 sericea</i> Species of flowering plant

Cornus sericea, the red osier or red-osier dogwood, 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, redstem dogwood, redtwig dogwood, red-rood, American dogwood, creek dogwood, and western dogwood.

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

Cornus sanguinea, the common dogwood or bloody dogwood, is a species of dogwood native to most of Europe and western Asia, from England and central Scotland east to the Caspian Sea. It is widely grown as an ornamental plant.

<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>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>Diospyros nigra</i> Species of tree

Diospyros nigra, the black sapote, is a species of persimmon. Common names include chocolate pudding fruit, black soapapple and zapote prieto. The tropical fruit tree is native to Mexico, Central America, and Colombia. The common name sapote refers to any soft, edible fruit. Black sapote is not related to white sapote nor mamey sapote. The genus Diospyros has numerous other fruit bearing tree species in addition to the persimmons and black sapote.

Silky dogwood is a common name for two species of shrubs, formerly treated as a single species:

<i>Carissa macrocarpa</i> Species of shrub

Carissa macrocarpa is a shrub native to tropical and southern Africa. It is commonly known as the Natal plum and, in South Africa, the large num-num. In Zulu, as well as in the Bantu tribes of Uganda, it is called Amathungulu or umThungulu oBomvu. In Afrikaans the fruit is called noem-noem.

<i>Ficus obliqua</i> A tree, the small-leaved fig

Ficus obliqua, commonly known as the small-leaved fig, is a tree in the family Moraceae, native to eastern Australia, New Guinea, eastern Indonesia to Sulawesi and islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Previously known for many years as Ficus eugenioides, it is a banyan of the genus Ficus, which contains around 750 species worldwide in warm climates, including the edible fig. Beginning life as a seedling, which grows on other plants (epiphyte) or on rocks (lithophyte), F. obliqua can grow to 60 m (200 ft) high and nearly as wide with a pale grey buttressed trunk, and glossy green leaves.

<i>Spiraea virginiana</i> Species of flowering plant

Spiraea virginiana is a rare species of flowering plant in the rose family (Rosaceae) known by the common names Virginia meadowsweet and Virginia spiraea. It is native to the southern Appalachian Mountains, where it has a distribution scattered across nine states. However, most populations are very small and poor in quality. It is threatened by disturbances in the hydrology of its habitat, introduced species of plants, and other threats. It is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.

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

Cornus controversa, syn. Swida controversa, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cornus of the dogwood family Cornaceae, native to China, Korea, the Himalayas and Japan. It is a deciduous tree growing to 50 ft (15 m), with multiple tiered branches. Flat panicles of white flowers appear in summer, followed by globose black fruit. Ovate dark green leaves are glaucous underneath and turn red-purple in autumn. It is cultivated in gardens and parks in temperate regions.

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

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<i>Nyssa biflora</i> Species of tree

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Cornus obliqua, the blue-fruited dogwood, silky dogwood, or pale dogwood, is a flowering shrub of eastern North America in the dogwood family, Cornaceae. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of Cornus amomum, which is also known as silky dogwood. It was first described in 1820 by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque. It is in the subgenus Kraniopsis.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stritch, L. (2021) [amended version of 2018 assessment]. "Cornus amomum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021: e.T130047059A208666439. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-3.RLTS.T130047059A208666439.en . Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  2. "Cornus amomum". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  3. Nowick, Elaine (2014). Historical common names of Great Plains plants, with scientific names index. ISBN   9781609620585.
  4. 1 2 "Cornus amomum - Plant Finder". www.missouribotanicalgarden.org. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  5. 1 2 Paul., Cappiello (2005). Dogwoods : the genus Cornus. Shadow, Don. Portland, Or.: Timber Press. ISBN   978-0881926798. OCLC   56334031.
  6. "Plants Profile for Cornus amomum (silky dogwood)". plants.sc.egov.usda.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  7. "Cornus amomum Mill. — The Plant List". www.theplantlist.org. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  8. "DNR: Endangered Plant and Wildlife Species". www.in.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  9. Borowicz, Victoria A. (July 1988). "Do Vertebrates Reject Decaying Fruit? An Experimental Test with Cornus amomum Fruits". Oikos. 53 (1): 74–78. doi:10.2307/3565665. ISSN   0030-1299. JSTOR   3565665.
  10. "Planting Guides" (PDF). Pollinator.org. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  11. "ePIC - Detailed results from IPNI for Cornus amomum". epic.kew.org. Retrieved 2018-12-07.