In the Landscape: Red-Twig Dogwood is most often grown for its striking red twigs for winter interest.

Stems are often bright red, especially in winter, but also can be greenish, or yellow. Fruits are white, sometimes blue-tinged with a somewhat flattened stone pit. Flowers are small, white to greenish in dense, flat-topped clusters (bracts not large and showy as in other dogwoods). Wetland designation: FACW, It usually occurs in wetlands, but is occasionally found in non-wetlands.ĭiagnostic characters: Leaves are opposite, oval-shaped, pointed at the tip with the typical dogwood veining pattern 5-7 secondary veins arise at the midvein, and run parallel to each other out to the margin, converging at the tip. Habitat: It usually grows in moist soil, especially along streams and lakesides, in wet meadows, open forests and along forest edges.

Growth: The species grows 6-18 feet (2-6m) tall, often reaching tree stature in our area. Notable varieties include ‘Flaviramea,” a yellow-twig form “Isanti,” a compact form (to 5’) with bright red stems ‘Kelseyi,’ a dwarf form to 1.5’ and ‘Silver and Gold’ with yellow branches and creamy-edged foliage. Red-Twig Dogwood is extremely variable many cultivated varieties are available varying in stem color, size, and leaf variegation. The variety found west of the Cascades, C. In our region, we also have the Pacific Dogwood tree, and a groundcover, Bunchberry, Cornus canadensis.ĭistribution of Red Twig Dogwood from USDA Plants Databaseĭistribution: Red-Twig Dogwood is found throughout most of northern and western North America, extending into Mexico in the west but barely into Kentucky and Virginia in the east. Three Dogwood trees and a couple of shrub species are found in the eastern or Midwestern United States. Relationships: There are about 100 dogwood species worldwide found primarily in temperate regions. “Osier” is a name for willows whose branches are used for making baskets or wicker furniture. It is often called Red-osier Dogwood other common names include: Red-stemmed, Rose, Silky, American, California, Creek, Western, or Poison Dogwood, Squawbush, Shoemack, Waxberry Cornel, Red-osier Cornel, Red-stemmed Cornel, Red Willow, Red Brush, Red Rood, Harts Rouges, Gutter Tree and Dogberry Tree. Stolonifera means “bearing stolons (running stems),” due to this shrub’s habit of spreading by the layering of prostrate stems. Sericea means covered with fine, silky hairs, which are found on the undersides of the leaves, especially on the veins or on the young branches. Cornus means horn or antler, or “ the ornamental knobs at the end of the cylinder on which ancient manuscripts were rolled”-which may refer to the hard wood or the knobby-looking inflorescence of some dogwoods. Names: Cornus sericea is synonymous with Cornus stolonifera. Red Twig Dogwood variety with a Yellow Twig Dogwood (Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea’) in the background.

Twig dogwood