Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia
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| Alternateleaf dogwood. Creative Commons image by Paul Wray, Iowa State University, Bugwood.org. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Coladonato, Milo. 1994. Cornus alternifolia. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/shrub/coralt/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
CORALT
SYNONYMS :
NO-ENTRY
NRCS PLANT CODE :
COAL2
COMMON NAMES :
alternateleaf dogwood
TAXONOMY :
The scientific name for alternateleaf dogwood is Cornus alternifolia L.f.
(Cornaceae) [13]. There are no recognized infrataxa. Alternateleaf dogwood
hybridizes with red-osier dogwood (C. sericea) [13].
LIFE FORM :
Tree, Shrub
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Alternateleaf dogwood occurs from Newfoundland through the New England
States to the Florida Panhandle. It extends west to the northern shores
of Lake Superior and eastern Minnesota and south through the Midwest
States to Arkansas and Mississippi [6,21,27].
 |
| Distribution of alternateleaf dogwood. 1977 USDA, Forest Service map digitized by Thompson and others [37]. |
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES10 White - red - jack pine
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
STATES :
AL AR CT DE FL GA IL IN IA KY
ME MD MA MI MN MS MO NH NJ NY
NC OH PA RI SC TN VT VA WV WI
MB NB NF ON PQ NS
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
NO-ENTRY
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
K095 Great Lakes pine forest
K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
K097 Southeastern spruce - fir forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K101 Elm - ash forest
K102 Beech - maple forest
K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
K104 Appalachian oak forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
K111 Oak - hickory - pine forest
K112 Southern mixed forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
1 Jack pine
5 Balsam fir
16 Aspen
17 Pin cherry
21 Eastern white pine
23 Eastern hemlock
24 Hemlock - yellow birch
25 Sugar maple - beech - yellow birch
26 Sugar maple - basswood
27 Sugar maple
28 Black cherry - maple
30 Red spruce - yellow birch
31 Red spruce - sugar maple - beech
32 Red spruce
33 Red spruce - balsam fir
34 Red spruce - Fraser fir
39 Black ash - American elm - red maple
42 Bur oak
46 Eastern redcedar
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
53 White oak
57 Yellow-poplar
58 Yellow-poplar - eastern hemlock
60 Beech - sugar maple
62 Silver maple - American elm
70 Longleaf pine
80 Loblolly pine - shortleaf pine
81 Loblolly pine
82 Loblolly pine - hardwood
93 Sugarberry - American elm - green ash
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Alternateleaf dogwood is an understory dominant in the northeastern
United States and in the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) forest of the
Great Lakes region [8,16,18].
Common associates of alternateleaf dogwood include chokecherry (Prunus
virginiana), American hazel (Corylus americana), hazelnut (C. cornuta),
mountain maple (Acer spicatum), striped maple (A. pennsylvanicum), black
cherry (Prunus serotina), serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis),
mountain-laurel (Kalmia latifolia), huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.), and
dogwoods (Cornus spp.) [2,18,21].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
At least 11 species of birds including ruffed grouse eat alternateleaf
dogwood. Black bear also eat the fruit. The leaves and stems are eaten
by white-tailed deer, cottontail rabbits, and beavers [7,15,22,30].
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
Alternateleaf dogwood provides cover for many small birds and animals
[21].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Alternateleaf dogwood is a large shrub or small tree that may reach 25
to 30 feet (7.5-9 m) in height [5,14,25]. The trunk forks near the
ground into several branches that spread horizontally in layers. The
bark is thin. The alternate leaves occur mainly at the end of the
twigs. The fruit is a drupe [10,17,21,31].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Phanerophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
The dogwood species reproduce by layering, sprouting from the root
crown, and by seed [21,30]. The seed is dispersed by gravity and
animals. Germination is delayed due to embryo dormancy [21].
Alternateleaf dogwood is vegetatively propagated [21].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Alternateleaf dogwood grows best on well-drained deep soils. It is
found in moist woodlands, along forest margins, on stream and swamp
borders, and near deep canyon bottoms [1,16,21].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Facultative Seral Species
Alternateleaf dogwood is shade-tolerant [9,20]. It is a dominant
understory species in mature forest in New England, and a
late-successional understory shrub in the aspen (Populus spp.) and
sugar maple forests of Michigan [21,26].
Alternateleaf dogwood also occurs in younger tree stands. It was a
dominant shrub species in a 49-year-old aspen stand and an 18-year-old
aspen stand in northern Minnesota [32]. Alternateleaf dogwood had a
density of 54 stems per hectare in a 20- to 30-year-old burn in North
Carolina [36]. Alternateleaf dogwood occurs in both young (age <41
years) and old (age >40 years) oak (Quercus spp.) clearcuts in
southwestern Wisconsin [33].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Alternateleaf dogwood flowers from May to July. The fruit ripens from
July through September [4,20].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Fire survival and postfire regeneration strategies for alternateleaf
dogwood are not well documented in the literature. If the roots or
stems survive fire, it may reproduce vegetatively. Alternateleaf
dogwood may colonize fire disturbed sites with animal-dispersed seed
[26].
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Tall shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed
FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Fires probably top-kills alternateleaf dogwood.
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
No specific information is available on fire response of alternateleaf
dogwood. Since it sprouts from the root crown, it probably does so
after top-kill by fire.
Perala [23] reported that alternateleaf dogwood was "encouraged" by
prescribed fire in an aspen-mixed hardwood forest in north-central
Minnesota, but no details were given.
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Cornus alternifolia
REFERENCES :
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species groups of oak ecosystems of southeastern Michigan. Forest
Science. 35(4): 1058-1074. [9768]
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tall shrubs in Minnesota. Forest Science. 33(4): 846-857. [2879]
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reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
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Panhandle. Tallahassee, FL: Florida State University Press. 605 p.
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forest habitat types of northern Wisconsin. Madison, WI: University of
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perspective. Saranac, NY: The Chauncy Press. 320 p. [19376]
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D.; Healy, William M., compilers. Shrubs and vines for northeastern
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FEIS Home Page
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