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redosier dogwood
Scientific Name: Cornus sericea ssp. sericea
Family: Cornaceae
Category: Dicot
Growth: Tree, Shrub
Duration: Perennial
Other Names:
Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea)
Considerations for Pets
- This is a multi-stemmed shrub.
- The inner bark was traditionally smoked.
Considerations for Children
- This is a multi-stemmed shrub.
Scientific Classification and Nomenclature
- Scientific Name: Cornus sericea
- Synonyms: C. stolonifera, Swida sericea, C. alba non L. C. stolonifera. Michx. Swida stolonifera. Thelycrania
- Common Names: Red Osier Dogwood, Red Twig Dogwood, Red Willow, American Dogwood, Redstem Dogwood, Western Dogwood, Kanikanik or Kinikenick
- Family: Cornaceae (Dogwood Family)
- Genus: Cornus
- Species: sericea
Distribution and Habitat
- Native throughout northern and western North America, except the southeastern United States.
- Found primarily in woodland and marsh areas.
- Grows throughout Minnesota and is commonly seen in wetlands.
- Hardy to zone 3, possibly 2.
Morphological Characteristics and Growth Habits
- A deciduous shrub with a rounded, spreading form.
- Typically grows in the absence of competition as an upright-spreading, suckering shrub.
- Multi-stemmed, medium to large shrub with horizontal branches at the base.
- Typically grows 3-to-12 feet tall, but sometimes only reaches 4 feet.
- Young twigs are reddish with white lenticels that gray with age.
- Leaves are opposite, ovate to lance-shaped, and dark green, turning a dull red. Leaf size is typically 2 to 4 inches long.
- Bark color is red or yellow in winter.
- Known for its bright red winter stems.
- Dense, flat-topped clusters.
- Exhibits convex clusters of 4-petaled white flowers.
- Has blueish fruits that resist rot and persist long after the fruits of other species.
- Has thick fibrous roots.
Ecological Role
- Red-osier dogwood often suffers from overbrowsing in winter range.
- Provides food for grizzly bears, black bears, and ruffed grouse.
Other Noteworthy Information
- Tolerates a wide range of soils, performing well on moderately wet soils and surviving occasional flooding.
- Native Americans smoked the inner bark in tobacco mixtures used in sacred ceremonies.
- Aboriginal people also used the bark in pipes or to make red dye and the branches to make baskets.
- The "osier" in red-osier is French.
Quirky Facts
- The Red-osier dogwood plays a major role in Christmas decorations in North America.