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Cornus racemosa Lam.

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Credits

Martin Deasy, Dan Crowley, Jack Aldridge & Răzvan Chişu (2026)

Recommended citation
Deasy, M., Crowley, D., Aldridge, J. & Chişu, R. (2026), 'Cornus racemosa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cornus/cornus-racemosa/). Accessed 2026-06-16.

Family

  • Cornaceae

Genus

Common Names

  • Northern Swamp Dogwood
  • Panicle Dogwood
  • Gray Dogwood

Synonyms

  • Swida candidissima (Marsh.) Small
  • Cornus paniculata L'Hér.
  • Swida racemosa (Lam.) Moldenke

Glossary

synonym
(syn.) (botanical) An alternative or former name for a taxon usually considered to be invalid (often given in brackets). Synonyms arise when a taxon has been described more than once (the prior name usually being the one accepted as correct) or if an article of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature has been contravened requiring the publishing of a new name. Developments in taxonomic thought may be reflected in an increasing list of synonyms as generic or specific concepts change over time.

Credits

Martin Deasy, Dan Crowley, Jack Aldridge & Răzvan Chişu (2026)

Recommended citation
Deasy, M., Crowley, D., Aldridge, J. & Chişu, R. (2026), 'Cornus racemosa' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/cornus/cornus-racemosa/). Accessed 2026-06-16.

Cornus racemosa

The characteristically elongated – almost paniculate – inflorescences of Cornus racemosa contrast effectively with the glossy dark-green foliage, as seen here at Ray Wood, Castle Howard, North Yorkshire (2 July 2020). Image John Grimshaw.

Deciduous shrub to 5 m. Bark rough, grey. Branchlets becoming dark red to greyish, densely pubescent, though sparsely so towards tips, lenticels pale on early growth, becoming corky later; pith white, turning brown later. Leaves 1.5–8 × 0.5–4 cm, chartaceous, lanceolate to ovate, base cuneate, upper surface green, turning dark red in sun, lower surface pale green, both surfaces pubescent with white or pale brown appressed trichomes, three to four secondary veins on each side of the midvein, margins entire; petiole to 0.8 cm long. Inflorescence elongate, cymose, ~2.5–5 cm in diameter, terminating every twig; bracts minute, not petal-like. Flowers hermaphrodite, white, 0.2–0.4 cm, petals 0.2–0.3 cm long. Fruits globose or nearly so, slightly compressed laterally, 0.4–0.8 cm diameter, white to bluish-white at maturity, with one stone, pedicels bright red; stone smooth, apex rounded to slightly pointed. Flowering May to July, fruiting August to October (North America). (Murrell & Poindexter 2015; Bean 1976).

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

Habitat Open and scrubby areas between 0 and 1500 m asl.

USDA Hardiness Zone 4-8

RHS Hardiness Rating H5

Conservation status Not evaluated (NE)

Taxonomic note The circumscription and synonymy of the sister species C. racemosa and C. foemina have been much worked over, but the result has been less rather than more clarity. The usage of C. candidissima Mill. and Cornus candidissima Marsh. is also problematic. Rickett (1934) argues persuasively that C. candidissima Mill. is the same as C. stricta Lam. (=C. foemina), but C. stricta and C. racemosa were united by Coulter and Evans (1890) under the illegitimate name Cornus candidissima Marsh.

Cornus racemosa is native to the eastern and central United States, northwards into Canada, closely allied to the more southerly species Cornus foemina, from which it is distinguished by the grey (not pigmented) branches, brown (not white) pith and white (not bluish-white) fruits – see the entry for that species. Bean (1976) appreciated the plant for its profuse, relatively late flowering (shortly after midsummer), and for its tidier, less rampant habit than the rest of the shrubby dogwoods. The inflorescences are often distinctively elongated, as reflected in the synonym C. paniculata, the name under which the plant was often grown in the nineteenth century. The flowers may be slightly pink-tinted, and the autumnal foliage is attractive. Bean (1976) noted that the species fruited much less freely in Britain than in its native climate.

Cornus racemosa is another of the shrubby ‘Virginia dogwoods’ introduced to Europe in the mid eighteenth century, said by Rehder (1940) and later authors to have been introduced in 1758, though this assertion is not supported by the descriptions in Miller (1759), and is to regarded as doubtful (see also the entry for Cornus foemina). Lamarck, who described the species in 1786, noted that it was growing at the Jardin du Roi, Paris; he also described a sterile form in which the peduncles terminated in leaves instead of flowers (Lamarck 1786).

Upright in habit with vigorous ascending stems, the plant can be grown as a fine shade tree if one of these is selected as a leader (Gayraud 2013), a characteristic exploited in the cultivars listed below, few if any of which are available outside the United States, but which deserve far more attention from European growers. The species is certainly capable of thriving in Northern European conditions: Loudon (1838) recorded a specimen (under C. paniculata) at Ham House that had reached 7.5 m in height.

Lake County Nursery, Ohio, has bred and introduced the Counties of Ohio series, selected for salt tolerance, disease- and insect-resistance and ease of maintenance; the five cultivars exhibit a range of habits and qualities, from stoloniferous ground cover (‘Muszam’ Muskingum) to small trees (‘Cuyzam’ Cuyahoga) (Upshoot 2012).

Cornus racemosa

Grown in a rather shaded site in Ray Wood, Castle Howard, Cornus racemosa here is far from spectacular: more sun is needed for it to demonstrate the mass-flowering praised by Bean (2 July 2020). Image John Grimshaw.

'Cinderella'

A vigorous selection (4.5 × 4.5 m), the foliage variegated with a yellow margin (fading to cream) and a mid-green centre; the contrasting leaf colour is said to be held throughout the season. The plant originated as a 1986 sport of ‘Heaven Sent’ at the nursery of A. T. Rawdon, Holt, Missouri; patent filed in 1990 (US PP07766P); rarely seen, even in the United States.

Cornus racemosa 'Cinderella'

Detail of variegation on Cornus racemosa 'Cinderella'. Image Paul Cappiello.

'Cuyzam'

Synonyms / alternative names
Cornus racemosa Cuyahoga™

A vigorous cultivar, selected for its ability to form a small tree. Creamy white, musk-scented flowers are borne in profusion. The large leaves are glossy green, ‘twice the size of the species’, giving rich burgundy autumnal colour (Upshoot 2012).

Cornus racemosa 'Cuyzam'

A young plant of Cornus racemosa 'Cuyzam' Cuyahoga™ at Scott Arboretum, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, USA (31 October 2025). Image John Grimshaw.

'Emerald'

Synonyms / alternative names
Cornus racemosa Snow Lace®

USDA Hardiness Zone: 3b-8

Glossy dark leaves, forming a dense, tall shrub, flowering and fruiting well; introduced by North Dakota State University( Quam & Herman 2006). The provenance implies greater hardiness.

Cornus racemosa 'Emerald'

Cornus racemosa 'Emerald' Snow Lace® with attractive red-branched infructescences above the foliage, although the berries have already gone (Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, August 2022). Image John Grimshaw.

'Geazam'

Synonyms / alternative names
Cornus racemosa Geauga®

An unusual compact selection for hedging use – fast-growing and dense in habit. Plants can be pruned for formal effect or left untrimmed. The unusual foliage colour is described as ‘black-green’ […] highlighted by deep polished mahogany-red new growth’ (Upshoot 2012).

'Heaven Sent'

Discovered by A. T. Rawdon as a variegated branch sport growing wild near Holt, Missouri, grafted in the spring of 1980, but the variegation proved unstable. Parent of ‘Cinderella’; it is not known whether the plant was introduced commercially (US PP07766P).

'Hurzam'

Synonyms / alternative names
Cornus racemosa Huron®

Compact, with a dense, almost globular habit, 1.2 m across; foliage mid-green, in autumn becoming burgundy-red. (Upshoot 2012; Gayraud 2013).

'Jade'

Synonyms / alternative names
Cornus racemosa Snow Mantle®

USDA Hardiness Zone: 3b-8

Leaves less glossy than the typical form, tree-like in habit, but suckering so better grown as a multistem; introduced by North Dakota State University (Quam & Herman 2006). The provenance implies greater hardiness.

'Mahzam'

Synonyms / alternative names
Cornus racemosa Mahoning®

A vigorous selection with a stoloniferous habit, the grey stems attractively exposed during the winter (Upshoot 2012).

'Muszam'

Synonyms / alternative names
Cornus racemosa Muskingum®

RHS Hardiness Rating: H5

A stoloniferous, low-growing form to 60 cm tall and 1.2 m wide with lilac-scented creamy-white flowers and bric-red autumnal foliage; one of the COUNTIES OF OHIO™ series introduced by Lake County Nursery, Ohio (Cappiello & Shadow 2005; Upshoot 2012). Like the other cultivars in the series, virtually unknown in Europe.

'Ottzam'

Synonyms / alternative names
Cornus racemosa Ottawa

Forms a fastigiate tree to c. 4 m tall × 1.8 m wide, the leaves very glossy (Cappiello & Shadow 2005). A poorly-documented cultivar, apparently introduced by Lake County Nursery, Ohio, though it is not one of their original Counties of Ohio Series; its commercial availability is unclear.

'Slavin's Dwarf'

Synonyms / alternative names
Cornus racemosa 'Slavinii'

A dwarf, suckering form to 90 cm tall, with short internodes and slightly twisted foliage; the name has been widely misapplied to Cornus × slavinii.

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