Cornus obliqua Raf.

Narrowleaf dogwood, silky dogwood, swamp dogwood

About plant names...

Narrowleaf dogwood is native to eastern and central North America.

Identification: These dogwoods are multiply branched shrubs up to 12' (3.7 m) high. Branch bark is highly variable in color: gray, brown, reddish brown, red, or yellow-brown. Young twigs have fine hairs; mature branches have vertical lenticels. Leaves are opposite, on stems up to ½" (1.5 cm) long. Leaves are deeply veined on the back, up to 4" (10 cm) × 1¼" (3.5 cm) in size, oval with pointed tips, somewhat narrower than other dogwood leaves. They turn deep red or maroon in the fall. Flowers bloom from May to June, and are yellowish-white. The berries are, well, if you ask me, awesome. First, they're colorful: they go from green to white to light blue to deep blue. It is the light blue phase that I like best—they have a sheen that actually looks metallic.

Online References:

The Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Illinois Wildflowers

Missouriplants.com

The Missouri Botanical Garden

The Vanderbilt University Bioimages web site

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

References:

Petrides, George A., Peterson Field Guides: Trees and Shrubs, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1972, p. 77, 106

Symonds, George W.D., Shrub Identification Book, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1963, p. 98

8/16/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 5 × 3½" (13 × 9.2 cm)

9/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 9 × 6" (22 × 14 cm) ID is uncertain

9/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 4½ × 7" (11 × 17 cm) ID is uncertain

9/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 7 × 4½" (17 × 11 cm) ID is uncertain

9/10/2021 · Crystal Spring Farm, Blueberry Loop, Brunswick, Maine
≈ 5 × 3½" (13 × 9 cm)

8/20/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 5 × 3" (12 × 8.1 cm)

8/27/2010 · Beaver Brook Association Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hamp­shire
≈ 5 × 8" (13 × 19 cm)

Cornus obliqua description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 13 Sep 2021.

© FloraFinder.org. All rights reserved.

7/17/2019 · Oceanview, Falmouth, Maine
≈ 6 × 4" (16 × 11 cm)

8/26/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 8 × 5" (19 × 13 cm)

8/20/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 6 × 4" (15 × 10 cm)

7/29/2023 · By Jacquelyn Boyt

9/10/2021 · Crystal Spring Farm, Blueberry Loop, Brunswick, Maine
≈ 5 × 3" (12 × 8.4 cm)

8/26/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 9 × 6" (23 × 15 cm)

8/20/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 4½ × 3" (11 × 7.9 cm)

7/17/2019 · Oceanview, Falmouth, Maine
≈ 10 × 6" (24 × 16 cm)

8/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Groton Center, Groton, Mass­a­chu­setts
≈ 7 × 8" (19 × 20 cm)

Range: Zones 4-8:

About this map...