Cornus obliqua Raf.

Deciduous shrub to 5 m, with clustered stems, sometimes arching to the ground and rooting at nodes. Bark green to dark red, splitting longitudinally. Branchlets green or greenish-red with erect trichomes at first, later dark red, glabrous; lenticels somewhat inconspicuous, pith tan to brown. Leaves 4–12 × 1–5 cm, chartaceous, lanceolate to narrowly elliptic, base cuneate, upper surface dark green, with appressed pubescence, lower surface whitish-yellow, pubescent with appressed and rigid white trichomes, (four to) five to six secondary veins on each side of the midvein, margins entire, apex acuminate; petiole to 0.6–2 cm long. Inflorescence cymose, 2–7 cm diameter, pedicels green to greenish-yellow, turning dark red with fruit; bracts 6–8, minute, green, leafy, non-petal-like. Flowers hermaphrodite, sepals 0.1– ~0.2 cm, petals ~0.4–0.5 cm long. Fruit a drupe, globose, 0.5–0.9 cm diameter, blue at maturity, those in sun bleached white, with one stone; stone globose, 0.4–0.6 cm diameter, irregularly ridged longitudinally, apex pointed. Flowering May to August, fruiting August to October (North America). (Murrell & Poindexter 2015; Maturen 2008).

Distribution  Canada New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec United States Arkansas, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Ilinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Habitat Wet woods, wet meadows, river and stream banks, marshes and ditches between 0 and 1500 m asl.

USDA Hardiness Zone 4-8

RHS Hardiness Rating H7

Conservation status Least concern (LC)