CORNACEAE - - Dogwood Family

Cornus alternifolia Linnaeus f. — Alternate-leaf Dogwood

Alternate-leaf Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) - Also known as Pagoda Cornel or Pagoda Dogwood, C. alternifolia is a shrub or small tree to 30 ft. tall, with branches spreading in irregular whorls forming horizontal tiers; twigs glabrous, greenish; leaves alternate, usually crowded at end of twigs, elliptic-ovate, 3-5 in. long, 2 1/2-3 1/2 in. wide, margin entire, veins curving upward and paralleling the margin; flowers in flat-topped, many-flowered cymes; fruit a deep-blue or blue-black drupe, about 1/3 in. in diameter, borne on red pedicels. Note: since the leaves are sometimes spaced so close together, they can appear almost whorled or sub-opposite.

Habitat:

Native to both moist and dry forests, forest margins, stream banks and fields.

The range of Cornus alternifolia (Alternate-leaf Dogwood)

Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. [maps generated from Kartesz, J.T. 2015. Floristic Synthesis of North America, Version 1.0. Biota of North America Program (BONAP). (in press)].

The Georgia range of Cornus alternifolia (Alternate-leaf Dogwood)

Zomlefer, W.B., J.R. Carter, & D.E. Giannasi. 2014 (and ongoing). The Atlas of Georgia Plants. University of Georgia Herbarium (Athens, Georgia) and Valdosta State University Herbarium (Valdosta, Georgia). Available at: http://www.georgiaherbaria.org/.