Taxonomy
Family: Cornaceae
Genus: Cornus
Species: Cornus amomum Mill.
Common names: (Nowick, 2014; Cornus amomum, n.d.)
- dogwood
- silky cornel
- silky dogwood
- red willow
- kinnikinnick
- squawbush
Morphology
Type: deciduous shrub (Cornus amomum, n.d.)
Size: 4m tall (Cornus amomum, n.d.)
Leaves: opposite, 10cm long by 7cm broad, oval to elliptic with acute apex, pubescent with 4 to 5 veins per leaf side (Cornus amomum, n.d.)
Flowers: cymes of 4 yellowish-white tiny petals that blooms May to June (Cornus amomum, n.d.)
Fruit: blue drupe that is edible and feeds birds, mammals and insects. It develops in August (Cornus amomum, n.d.)
Growth and Attributes
Reproduction: pollination by insects
Pollinators: carpenter bees and summer azure
Habitat: forested seasonal wetlands, floodplains, streams, pond banks, clearings, creeks and water systems (TWC Staff, 2023, Cornus amomum, 2023).
Distribution: Eastern United States at elevations up to 427 m high. See: USDA distribution map
Cultivation: full sun to partial shade, but it tolerates full shade. Requires moist to wet, well drained organically rich soil. It can grow in loam and sand (TWC Staff., 2023; Cornus amomum, n.d.).
Conservation status: least concern
Ecosystem uses: shelter for wildlife such as birds (Cornus amomum; Cornus amomum, n.d.).
Human uses: ornamental, hedges, rain gardens, erosion control, windbreaks. The bark was used by Native Americans as tobacco (Cornus amomum; Cornus amomum, n.d.).
Aggressive growth: If it is left unattended, it will grow to create thickets and thick vegetative areas (Cornus amomum; Cornus amomum, n.d.).
Pests: scale, borers*, and leaf miners. Pests are not a concerned due to biological control since it attracts insect predators and parasites (TWC Staff., 2023; Cornus amomum, n.d.). Diseases include leaf spot*, crown canker*, blights*, root rot* and powdery mildew* (Cornus amomum, n.d.)
*these pictures are for dogwoods in general
Unique characteristics: Tolerates erosion, wet soil, and black walnut. It has purplish brown silky hairs on the twigs and leaves (Cornus amomum, n.d.)
Resistant to deer? Yes
Wetland plant status: there are 2 wetland regions in VA:
- Mountains and Piedmonts and Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain.
- Dogwood is facultative (FAC) wetland for both regions
Recommended Reading
Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) listing
Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora: species, distribution map
References
Cornus amomum Mill. in GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-20.
Cornus amomum. (n.d.). US Army Corps of Engineers. https://wetland-plants.sec.usace.army.mil/nwpl_static/v34/species/species.html?DET=001100#
Cornus amomum P. Mill. Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora. http://vaplantatlas.org/index.php?do=plant&plant=283&search=Search
“Cornus amomum – Plant Finder”. www.missouribotanicalgarden.org. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
“Cornus amomum.” Wikipedia, 2 June 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_amomum
TWC Staff. (2023-03-22). Cornus amomum. Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=COAM2
“Cornus amomum”. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Agriculture. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
Cornus amomum. n.d. Missouri Botanical Garden. http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=279336&isprofile=0&%3C/a%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EPanda,
Nowick, Elaine (2014). https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/27/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781609620585
Coauthored by Monica Marcelli & Adrian Hagarty, 2023.