CORNACEAE DOGWOOD FAMILY Plant: shrubs and small trees (possibly herbs elsewhere) Stem: twigs with white or brown pith Root: Leaves: mostly deciduous but some evergreen; mostly not toothed but may be wavy, opposite or less often alternate; no stipules Flowers: mostly perfect locally (or dioecious elsewhere); sometimes with large petal-like bracts; small, mostly 4-5 sepals, often just teeth or minute; mostly 4-5 petals or rarely none; 4-10 (15) stamens; ovary inferior, usually 2 carpels, usually 1 style Fruit: drupe or berry, oily, 1-2 seeded Other: widespread in tropical and temperate regions; locally the dogwoods; some put Nyssa (sour gum genus) in this family instead of in the Nyssaceae; Dicotyledons Group Genera: 65+ species; locally Cornus (dogwood) WARNING family descriptions are only a layman s guide and should not be used as definitive
CORNACEAE DOGWOOD FAMILY Alternate Leaf [Pagoda] Dogwood; Cornus alternifolia L. f. Silky Dogwood; Cornus amomum Mill. Bunchberry Dogwood [Dwarf Cornel]; Cornus canadensis L. Roughleaf Dogwood; Cornus drummondii C.A. Mey. Flowering Dogwood; Cornus florida L. Kousa Dogwood; Cornus kousa Hance (Introduced) Gray [Panicled] Dogwood; Cornus racemosa Lam. Red Ossier; Cornus sericea L. ssp. Sericea (Cornus stolonifera Michx.)
Alternate Leaf [Pagoda] Dogwood Cornus alternifolia L. f. Waterloo Recreation Area, Washtenaw County, Michigan USDA Notes: shrub; flowers white in slightly convex to nearly flat open cymes; leaves alternate, somewhat elliptical tapering to sharp tip, 4-6 pairs of veins that curve with leaf margin, mostly glabrous above, hairy on veins mostly below, petioles long and clasp twig, leaves crowd end of twig; twigs mostly glabrous, greenish (to purplish), pith white; buds glabrous, scales overlapping; fruit a blue berry; spring [V Max Brown, 2008]
Silky Dogwood Cornus amomum Mill. Oak Openings Metropark, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: shrub; flowers white in slightly convex to nearly flat cymes; leaves opposite, somewhat elliptical tapering to sharp tip, 3-6 pairs of veins, mostly glabrous above, USDA hairy on veins mostly; twigs short and densely hairy early, pith brown with maturity (early white); fruit a blue berry; spring (C. obliqua included here) [V Max Brown, 2008]
USDA Bunchberry Dogwood [Dwarf Cornel] Cornus canadensis L. Whitefish Point, Chippewa County, Michigan Notes: herb (rhizome); flower with 4 large white bracts, corolla small, green; leaves whorled (mostly 6 but commonly less), elliptical to ovate, veins arcing and converging at tip of leaf; fruit a cluster of red berries on pedicel; late spring to summer [V Max Brown, 2008]
USDA Roughleaf Dogwood Cornus drummondii C.A. Mey. Maumee River Metroparks, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: shrub; flowers white in open cymes (nearly flat or somewhat convex); leaves elliptical to somewhat ovate, tip long acuminate, opposite, rough above and wooly beneath, 3-5 lateral veins; twigs hairy, pith light brown; fruit white, pedicels dark red; spring [V Max Brown, 2006]
USDA Flowering Dogwood Cornus florida L. Oak Openings Metropark, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: shrub to small tree; 4 showy bracts (white to rarely pink), notched, flower greenish yellow; leaves somewhat elliptical tapering to sharp tip, often wavy edges; twigs short pubescent; floral buds large; fruit a red berry; spring [V Max Brown, 2004]
USDA Kousa Dogwood Cornus kousa Hance (Introduced) Near Greers Ferry Lake, Cleburne County, Arkansas Notes: shrub to small tree; 4 showy white bracts, tips acute; leaves opposite, simple, somewhat elliptical tapering to a sharp tip, flowers much later than introduction of leaves; fruit a pink to red, compound berry, edible; late spring [V Max Brown, 2015]
Gray [Panicled] Dogwood Cornus racemosa Lam. Oak Openings Metropark, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: shrub; flowers white in an elongated (somewhat conical) cyme; leaves opposite, somewhat elliptical to USDA lanceolate, both tip and base acute to acuminate, 3-4 pairs of veins, mostly glabrous to slightly hairy above and below, may be glaucous below; thicker braches light gray, branchlets mostly with brown pith; fruit a white berry with red pedicels; spring [V Max Brown, 2008]
USDA Red Ossier Cornus sericea L. ssp. Sericea (Cornus stolonifera Michx.) Oak Openings Metropark, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: branchy shrub; branches and twigs red, pith white, hairy twigs; leaves opposite, pointed, 5-7 veins curving at margins, underside hairy; fruit white [V Max Brown, 2004]