Plant Family: Cornaceae
Growth Form: Open shrub 3 to 4 meters high that spreads by stolons to form single species thickets.
Leaves: Opposite, simple, ovate to broadly elliptic, up to 10 cm long, with 5 or 6 lateral veins that curve to follow the margins.
Bark: The stems are red to burgundy red and the pith is reliably white.
Flowers: Small, white, with four petals, held in flat-topped clusters, June to July.
Fruits: Round white to bluish white drupes, August into winter.
Habitat: Floodplains, damp thickets, swamp borders, tolerates flooding.
Range: Common throughout New England, ranging north into Canada all the way to tree line, and west across the continent to the Pacific.
Similar Species: Silky Dogwood is similar, and shares habitat, but the pith is brown; Gray Dogwood also has white pith, but the leaves are smaller with fewer veins.
Comments: This wide-ranging, fast-growing native species is useful to control streambank erosion, in wetland restoration, and to provide cover and forage for wildlife. Several cultivars are available for gardeners.
