Cornus racemosa

Lamarck

in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 2: 116. 1786.

Common names: Gray dogwood cornouiller à grappes
Endemic
Synonyms: Cornus albida Ehrhart C. foemina subsp. racemosa (Lamarck) J. S. Wilson C. gracilis Koehne C. paniculata L'Heritier C. paniculata var. albida (Ehrhart) Pursh C. paniculata var. radiata Pursh Swida candidissima Small S. racemosa (Lamarck) Moldenke
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 12. Treatment on page 456. Mentioned on page 451, 452, 453, 457.

Shrubs, to 5 m, flowering at 0.7 m; rhizomes present. Stems solitary, 2–10 dm apart; bark gray, brittle, verrucose, frequently forming small plates; branchlets pinkish brown, turning green-maroon, and later gray-maroon, 2 proximal internodes densely pubescent, distal internodes sparsely appressed-hairy; lenticels pale lenticular spots on new growth, uniformly scattered, especially on the distal internodes, protruding and extruding corky tissue on 2d year branches; pith white in 1st year branches, brown in older branches. Leaves: petiole 2–8 mm; blade lanceolate to ovate, 1.5–8 × 0.5–4 cm, base cuneate, apex acuminate to obtuse, abaxial surface pale green, adaxial surface green, turning maroon in full sun, both surfaces with hairs appressed, white to ferruginous; secondary veins 3–4(–5 on some sucker shoots) per side, evenly spaced. Inflorescences usually elongate, sometimes convex or pyramidal, 2.5–5 cm diam., peduncle 20–40 mm; branches and pedicels yellow-green, turning bright red. Flowers: hypanthium appressed-hairy; sepals 0.2–0.5 mm; petals white, 2.3–3 mm. Drupes usually white, occasionally pale blue, oblate-ellipsoid, laterally compressed, 4–8 mm diam.; stone oblate-ellipsoid, 3–6.5 mm diam., smooth, apex rounded to slightly pointed. 2n = 22.


Phenology: Flowering May–Jul; fruiting Aug–Oct.
Habitat: Fields, meadows, roadsides, fencerows, swamp margins.
Elevation: 0–1500 m.

Distribution

V12 1005-distribution-map.jpg

Man., Ont., Que., Conn., D.C., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., R.I., S.Dak., Tex., Vt., Va., W.Va., Wis.

Discussion

Cornus racemosa, much like C. foemina and C. obliqua, has a coronulate or minutely papillate abaxial leaf surface, visible under high magnification. Cornus gracilis may be a hybrid between C. racemosa and C. foemina. Hybrids between C. obliqua and C. racemosa and C. rugosa are discussed under those species.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Cornus racemosa"
Zack E. Murrell +  and Derick B. Poindexter +
Lamarck +
Cornus +
Gray dogwood +  and cornouiller à grappes +
Man. +, Ont. +, Que. +, Conn. +, D.C. +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Iowa +, Ky. +, Maine +, Md. +, Mass. +, Mich. +, Minn. +, Mo. +, Nebr. +, N.H. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, N.C. +, Ohio +, Pa. +, R.I. +, S.Dak. +, Tex. +, Vt. +, Va. +, W.Va. +  and Wis. +
0–1500 m. +
Fields, meadows, roadsides, fencerows, swamp margins. +
Flowering May–Jul +  and fruiting Aug–Oct. +
in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. +
Cornus albida +, C. foemina subsp. racemosa +, C. gracilis +, C. paniculata +, C. paniculata var. albida +, C. paniculata var. radiata +, Swida candidissima +  and S. racemosa +
Cornus racemosa +
Cornus subg. Thelycrania +
species +