Cornus amomum

Miller

Gard. Dict. ed. 8, Cornus no. 5. 1768.

Common names: Kinnikinnik
Endemic
Synonyms: Swida amomum (Miller) Small
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 12. Treatment on page 452. Mentioned on page 451, 453.

Shrubs, to 5 m, flowering at 1.5 m; rhizomes absent. Stems clustered, branches occasionally arching to ground and rooting at nodes; bark green-tan or maroon-tan, not corky, appearing braided, splitting longitudinally; branchlets green abaxially, maroon to green adaxially, turning red-maroon in fall, densely erect-hairy when young; lenticels not protruding on 2d year branches, area surrounding them not suffused with purple on older branches; pith tan or brown. Leaves: petiole 8–25 mm; blade broadly ovate, 8–15 × 4–9 cm, base rounded or truncate, apex abruptly acuminate, abaxial surface yellow-green, hairs brown, tan, or white, both appressed and rigid and others erect and curling on same leaf, tufts of hairs absent in axils of secondary-veins, midvein and secondary-veins densely tomentose, adaxial surface light to dark green, hairs appressed; secondary-veins (4–) 5–6 per side, most arising from proximal 1/2, tertiary-veins perpendicular to secondary-veins, ladderlike. Inflorescences flat-topped or convex, 2–8 cm diam., peduncle 15–80 mm; branches and pedicels green or greenish yellow, turning maroon in fruit. Flowers: hypanthium densely appressed-hairy, especially at base; sepals 1.3–2 mm; petals cream, 3–5 mm. Drupes blue, portion in direct sunlight bleached white, globose, 5–9 mm diam.; stone globose, 4–6 mm diam., irregularly longitudinally ridged, apex pointed. 2n = 22.


Phenology: Flowering May–Aug; fruiting Aug–Oct.
Habitat: Alluvial woods, river and stream banks, wet meadows, marshes, ditches.
Elevation: 0–1500 m.

Distribution

V12 1068-distribution-map.jpg

Ala., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Ky., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Miss., Mo., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Ohio, Pa., R.I., S.C., Tenn., Vt., Va., W.Va.

Discussion

The confusion regarding the name of this taxon dates to the description and plate by L. Plukenet (1691–1705, parts 3, 4) of the “Amomum Nova Angliae quorundum." In his protologue, Miller cited Plukenet and was the first to recognize the ovate-leaved, blue-fruited dogwood of eastern North America. O. A. Farwell (1931) and H. W. Rickett (1934) emphasized the essay by Miller following his description, which indicated red shoots and a whitish undersurface to the leaves; Farwell concluded that Cornus amomum is the correct name for the red-osier dogwood, treated here as C. sericea, whereas Rickett decided that the red shoots and whitish leaf undersurface comments by Miller were a misprint meant instead for C. candidissima, treated here as a synonym of C. racemosa. Because the majority of the description by Miller fits C. amomum better than C. sericea, the interpretation by Rickett is followed here.

Intermediates between Cornus amomum and C. obliqua are common where their ranges overlap; see the latter species for further discussion.

Putative hybrids between Cornus amomum and C. racemosa have been called C. ×arnoldiana Rehder; these have been reported from Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Cornus amomum"
light +  and dark green +
versatile +  and dorsifixed +
pointed +  and acuminate +
not suffused +
curling +
ornamented +
Zack E. Murrell +  and Derick B. Poindexter +
Miller +
maroon-tan +  and green-tan +
truncate +  and rounded +
Cornus +
8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br /> (15 cm150 mm <br />0.15 m <br />) +
4 cm40 mm <br />0.04 m <br /> (9 cm90 mm <br />0.09 m <br />) +
not petaloid +
alternate +, subopposite +, whorled +  and opposite +
greenish yellow +  and green +
Kinnikinnik +
expanding +  and minute +
Ala. +, Conn. +, Del. +, D.C. +, Fla. +, Ga. +, Ill. +, Ind. +, Iowa +, Ky. +, Maine +, Md. +, Mass. +, Mich. +, Miss. +, Mo. +, N.H. +, N.J. +, N.Y. +, N.C. +, Ohio +, Pa. +, R.I. +, S.C. +, Tenn. +, Vt. +, Va. +  and W.Va. +
distinct +
ellipsoid +, subglobose +  and globose +
0–1500 m. +
Alluvial woods, river and stream banks, wet meadows, marshes, ditches. +
white +, tan +  and brown +
appressed-hairy +
urceolate +  and turbinate +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br />) +
terminal +  and axillary +
convex +  and flat-topped +
alternate +, subopposite +, whorled +  and opposite +
not protruding +
intrastaminal +
greenish yellow +  and green +
1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br /> (8 cm80 mm <br />0.08 m <br />) +
distinct +
recurved +  and spreading +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
Flowering May–Aug +  and fruiting Aug–Oct. +
[1-]2[-4]-carpellate +
brown +  and tan +
0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br /> (0.9 cm9 mm <br />0.009 m <br />) +
Gard. Dict. ed. +
connate +  and distinct +
0.13 cm1.3 mm <br />0.0013 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
free +  and distinct +
pointed +  and rounded +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
ridged +  and globose +
Swida amomum +
Cornus amomum +
Cornus subg. Thelycrania +
species +
deciduous +  and perennial +