Wetland Plants and Plant Communities of Minnesota and Wisconsin

SILKY DOGWOOD

(Cornus amomum Miller)

DOGWOOD FAMILY (Cornaceae)

IND. STATUS: FACW+

FIELD CHARACTERISTICS: An erect, deciduous shrub usually 1-3 m. high. Leaves are opposite, ovate to elliptic, and 6-12 cm. long with 4-6 pairs of lateral veins. Twigs and branches are magenta with fine hairs and brown pith. The inflorescence is an open cyme with white flowers. Mature fruit is a dark blue berry; immature fruit may be white to bluish-white. In flower from May to July.

ECOLOGICAL NOTES: Silky dogwood is not as common as red-osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera) in shrub-carrs. It is primarily seen along stream banks and in shrubby thickets adjacent to wooded swamps. Silky dogwood is frequently planted for wildlife cover. A synonym is C. obliqua Raf.

SOURCE: Gleason and Cronquist (1991); and Swink and Wilhelm (1994).

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