Al Schneider's Rocky Mountains Plant Descriptions

Red Osier Dogwood
Cornus sericea
Dogwood family (Cornaceae)

This is a distinctive shrub found in riparian areas. Before its leaves arise, Red Osier Dogwood could be mistaken for a willow. Those leaves are a distinctive feature of Red Osier Dogwood for they turn lovely maroons and reds in the fall. The plant's red twigs add color to the landscape all year, especially in the winter. These qualities plus its many clusters of white flowers and white make it a favorite for home gardens as well. Red Osier Dogwood's white are actively eaten by wildlife, and the entire plant provides important winter browse.

The term "osier" is in the names of several dogwoods whose flexible twigs are used for furniture and basketry. "Cornus" is the Latin name for "dogwood." "Alba" means "white."


©Virginia Tech FREC

Description

Many-stemmed shrub, 3-8' tall, with distinctive maroon stems and opposite branches and leaves. Leaves are egg- to , with 5-7 pairs of prominent parallel veins directed toward the leaf tip. Small white flowers comprised of 4 oval petals, 4 small and 4 are grouped in 2-4' tight flat-topped clusters () . are white-blue -like .

Field Marks

White flower and clusters, red twigs, opposite leaves (maroon in the fall) with prominent parallel veins arcing toward leaf tip.

© Al Schneider

stamen -- the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower; The stamen consists of an anther supported by a filament.

An entire leaf has smooth edges. Not toothed or lobed.

Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom.

Deciduous plants are those that lose all of their leaves for part of the year.

fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants. It is formed from the ovary after flowering.

The botanical term "berry" is different from common usage. Strawberries and raspberries are not berries. But a tomatoe is. A true berry is a fruit with the seeds immersed in the pulp.

cyme -- Multiple flower stalks emerge from a single point and the flowers at the end bloom first.

drupe -- A fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a hardened shell containing a seed. A peach is a drupe. A raspberry is composed of drupelets.

included -- Enclosed and not protruding. For example, stamens within the corolla.

lanceolate -- Lance-shaped. Long, wider in the middle.