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) – Some would put Nyssa and relatives here instead of the family Nyssaeae
WARNING – family descriptions are only a layman’s guide and should not be used as definitive Flower Morphology in the Cornaceae (Dogwood Family)
Examples of genus Cornus
Silky Dogwood Cornus amomum Mill. Flowering Dogwood Cornus florida L.
Roughleaf Dogwood Cornus drummondii C.A. Mey.
Bunchberry Dogwood [Dwarf Cornel] Cornus canadensis L. 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 USDA Cornus alternifolia L. f. Cornaceae (Dogwood Family) Waterloo Recreation Area, Washtenaw County, Michigan 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 USDA Cornus amomum Mill. Cornaceae (Dogwood Family) 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, 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] Bunchberry Dogwood [Dwarf Cornel] USDA Cornus canadensis L. Cornaceae (Dogwood Family) 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] Roughleaf Dogwood USDA Cornus drummondii C.A. Mey. Cornaceae (Dogwood Family) 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] Flowering Dogwood USDA Cornus florida L. Cornaceae (Dogwood Family) 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] Kousa Dogwood USDA Cornus kousa Hance (Introduced) Cornaceae (Dogwood Family) 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 USDA Cornus racemosa Lam. Cornaceae (Dogwood Family) Oak Openings Metropark, Lucas County, Ohio Notes: shrub; flowers white in an elongated (somewhat conical) cyme; leaves opposite, somewhat elliptical to 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] Red Ossier USDA Cornus sericea L. ssp. Sericea (Cornus stolonifera Michx.) Cornaceae (Dogwood Family) 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]