Summary ³

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.

Description ⁴

Family:
Cornaceae (Dogwood)

Height:
3 to 8 feet

Habit:
Shrub with multiple stems and many branches

Leaves:
Opposite, lance-shaped leaves that come to a sharp point at the tip. Leaf has parallel veins and smooth edges

Bark:
Young growth is an orange-red, becoming gray-brown and rough in appearance as it ages

Flower:
Small cream or white colored flowers form rounded clusters up to 2.5 inches wide, borne on cream colored stalks

Fruit:
White berry-like drupe in clusters on red stalks

Bloom time:
June-July

Fall color:
Red

Habitat:
Open woods, savannas, thickets

Wildlife Benefits:
Flowers attract bumblebees, honeybees, and other insects. The fruit are a food source for many types of birds.

Notes:
Gray dogwood grows in partial to full sun. It has a spreading root system that can send up new sprouts, producing thickets.

References:
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/shrub/gray-dogwood
https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/trees/plants/gr_dogwood.htm

Range ⁴

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Dan Mullen, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/8583446@N05/9430112990/
2. (c) Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, all rights reserved, uploaded by Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District
3. Adapted by Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_racemosa
4. (c) Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNaturalistAU taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• eFloras.org
• Flora of North America (beta)
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• Go Botany
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
• IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
• Maryland Biodiversity Project
• NatureServe Explorer 2.0
• SEINet Symbiota portals
• Tropicos
• USDA PLANTS database
• VASCAN by Canadensys
• World Flora Online

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