Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Cornus racemosa
Introductory
SPECIES: Cornus racemosa
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Coladonato, Milo. 1993. Cornus racemosa. 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/tree/corrac/all.html [].
ABBREVIATION :
CORRAC
SYNONYMS :
Cornus foemina ssp. racemosa
SCS PLANT CODE :
CORA6
COMMON NAMES :
gray dogwood
grey dogwood
gray-stemmed dogwood
panicled dogwood
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of gray dogwood is Cornus
racemosa Lam. [16]. Some authorities consider C. racemosa a subspecies
of Cornus foemina [8,10]. Little [17], however, considers it a distinct
species.
LIFE FORM :
Tree, Shrub
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Cornus racemosa
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Gray dogwood's main range is from Maine and southern Ontario; south
through New England and Pennyslvania; and west to Ohio, Indiana,
Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota. Its southern range
is from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia to northern Arkansas.
Disjunct populations also occur in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky,
North and South Dakota, and Nebraska [2,10,17,30].
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES10 White - red - jack pine
FRES11 Spruce - fir
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
FRES19 Aspen - birch
STATES :
AR CT DE IL IN IA KY ME MD MA
MI MN MO NE NH NJ NY NC ND OH
OK PA RI SC SD TN VT VA WV WI
MB ON PQ
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
NO-ENTRY
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K093 Great Lakes spruce - fir forest
K095 Great Lakes pine forest
K096 Northeastern spruce - fir forest
K099 Maple - basswood forest
K100 Oak - hickory forest
K102 Beech - maple forest
K101 Elm - ash forest
K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
K104 Appalachian oak forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K108 Northern hardwoods - spruce forest
K110 Northeastern oak - pine forest
SAF COVER TYPES :
17 Pin cherry
19 Gray birch - red maple
20 White pine - northern red oak - red maple
21 Eastern white pine
22 White pine - hemlock
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
35 Paper birch - red spruce - balsam fir
37 Northern white-cedar
39 Black ash - American elm - red maple
42 Bur oak
43 Bear oak
44 Chestnut oak
52 White oak - black oak - northern red oak
53 White oak
55 Northern red oak
57 Yellow-poplar
58 Yellow-poplar - eastern hemlock
59 Yellow-poplar - white oak - northern red oak
60 Beech - sugar maple
62 Silver maple - American elm
64 Sassafras - persimmon
107 White spruce
108 Red maple
110 Black oak
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Gray dogwood is one of the dominant shrubs in the oak-hickory
(Quercus-Carya) forests of the northeastern United States. Common
codominants include maple-leaved viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) and
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia). Other common associates
of gray dogwood include American hazel (Corylus americana), beaked
hazelnut (C. cornuta), chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), smooth sumac
(Rhus glabra), and red raspberry (Rubus idaeus) [3,23,26].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Cornus racemosa
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
In Missouri, Ohio, and Illinois, gray dogwood is one of the most
important forage plants for white-tailed deer [5,19,24]. The seeds and
buds are a favorite food for ring-necked pheasant and northern bobwhite
in southern Michigan [28].
Gray dogwood thickets provide cover for a variety of birds and mammals
[2,6,14].
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
COVER VALUE :
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
Gray dogwood is well adapted for revegetating disturbed sites. It is
easily established by direct seedling and grows rapidly [11,29]. It has
been successfully planted for revegetating highway corridors in Wisconsin
and coal mine spoils in the eastern United States [11,28,29].
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
Gray dogwood has been planted for ornamental purposes because of its
showy flowers, fruits, and attractive fall coloring [2].
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Cornus racemosa
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Gray dogwood is a native, deciduous, rhizomatous shrub, usually from 4
to 10 feet (1.2-3.0 m) high. It sometimes becomes a small tree up to 27
feet (8 m) high [17]. It has ascending stems and branches that often
form impenetrable dome-shaped clusters or thickets [4]. The leaves are
2.5 to 4.0 inches (6.0-10 cm) long, and the flowers are borne in open,
irregular cymes. The individual fruits enclose a single stone and occur
in clusters [2,6,14].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Phanerophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Gray dogwood reproduces both sexually and asexually. It begins
producing seed at about 4 to 5 years of age and produces an abundant
amount of seed every year. Gray dogwood reproduces vegetatively by
sprouting from underground rhizomes [22,29].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Gray dogwood grows on a variety of sites within its range. It is found
in meadows, open woodlands, riparian zones, along roadsides, and forest
margins. It grows best on rich, moist, well-drained soils, but will
also grow on mineral-rich limestone bedrock and rock outcroppings. In
Appalachian oak-hickory forests, it usually occurs on open ridgetops and
south- and west-facing slopes [1,10,16].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Facultative Seral Species
Gray dogwood is an early to mid-seral species [12,20]. It is most
common in understories of mixed, open forests and grows best in moderate
to full sunlight [18]. In southwestern Wisconsin, aboveground growth
rates of gray dogwood were greater in open habitats than in forest
understories [12].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Gray dogwood flowers from May through July, with fruits maturing from
August through October [4,14]. Leaves emerge in early April and abscise
in late October [13].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Cornus racemosa
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Postfire regeneration strategies of grey dogwood are not documented in
the literature. It probably survives fire by sprouting from rhizomes.
It also produces an abundance of soil-stored seed [23], which may
germinate after fire.
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".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Rhizomatous shrub, rhizome in soil
Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
Initial-offsite colonizer (off-site, initial community)
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Cornus racemosa
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Aboveground plant parts are often killed by fire [25,26]. The
underground rhizomes probably survive all but severe fires that remove
duff and heat the upper soil for extended periods of time.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
Percent cover of native shrubs, including gray dogwood, decreased
following fire in a bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) savanna in east-central
Minnesota [26].
In a study of postfire plant response in four plant communities in
central New York, gray dogwood frequency on 17 burned plots averaged 62
percent at postfire year 1. Frequency on unburned plots was 62 percent [25].
The Research Paper by Bowles and others 2007 provides information on
postfire responses of several plant species, including gray dogwood,
that was not available when this species review was originally written.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Cornus racemosa
REFERENCES :
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University Press. 362 p. [12914]
2. Brinkman, Kenneth A. 1974. Cornus L. dogwood. In: Schopmeyer, C. S.,
technical coordinator. Seeds of woody plants in the United States.
Agric. Handb. 450. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service: 336-342. [7593]
3. Buell, Murray F.; Facey, Vera. 1960. Forest-prairie transition west of
Itasca Park, Minnesota. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 87(1):
46-58. [14171]
4. Chapman, William K.; Bessette, Alan E. 1990. Trees and shrubs of the
Adirondacks. Utica, NY: North Country Books, Inc. 131 p. [12766]
5. Dalke, Paul D. 1941. The use and availability of the more common winter
deer browse plants in the Missouri Ozarks. Transactions, 6th North
American Wildlife Conference. 6: 155-160. [17044]
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United States. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press. 322 p.
[12764]
7. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
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of old fields in central New York. Ecological Monographs. 61(2):
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9. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
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northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. 2nd ed. New York: New
York Botanical Garden. 910 p. [20329]
11. Harrington, John A. 1989. Major prairie planting on highway corridor to
test methods, value of resulting vegetation (Wisconsin). Restoration and
Management Notes. 7(1): 31-32. [8069]
12. Harrington, Robin A.; Brown, Becky J.; Reich, Peter B. 1989. Ecophysiol.
of exotic & native shrubs in s. WI. I. Rel. of leaf charac. resource
availability, & phenol. to seasonal patterns of carbon gain. Oecologia.
80: 356-367. [9241]
13. Harrington, Robin A.; Brown, Becky J.; Reich, Peter B. 1989. Ecophysiol.
of exotic & native shrubs in s. WI. I. Rel. of leaf charac. resource
availability, & phenol. to seasonal patterns of carbon gain. Oecologia.
80: 356-367. [9241]
14. Hunter, Carl G. 1989. Trees, shrubs, and vines of Arkansas. Little Rock,
AR: The Ozark Society Foundation. 207 p. [21266]
15. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
16. Landin, Mary C. 1979. The importance of wetlands in the north central
and northeast United States to non-game birds. In: DeGraaf, Richard M.;
Evans, Keith E., compilers. Management of north central and northeastern
forests for nongame birds: Proceedings of the workshop; 1979 January
23-25; Minneapolis, MN. Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-51. St. Paul, MN: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest
Experiment Station: 179-188. [18087]
17. Little, Elbert L., Jr. 1979. Checklist of United States trees (native
and naturalized). Agric. Handb. 541. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 375 p. [2952]
18. Medve, Richard J. 1984. The mycorrhizae of pioneer species in disturbed
ecosystems of western Pennsylvania. American Journal of Botany. 71(6):
787-794. [8544]
19. Nixon, Charles M.; McClain, Milford W.; Russell, Kenneth R. 1970. Deer
food habits and range characteristics in Ohio. Journal of Wildlife
Management. 34(4): 870-886. [16398]
20. Olson, Jerry S. 1958. Rates of succession and soil changes on southern
Lake Michigan sand dunes. Botanical Gazette. 119(3): 125-170. [10557]
21. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
22. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
23. Smith, Albert J. 1975. Invasion and ecesis of bird-disseminated woody
plants in a temperate forest sere. Ecology. 56(1): 19-34. [15667]
24. Strole, Todd A.; Anderson, Roger C. 1992. White-tailed deer browsing:
species preferences and implications for central Illinois forests.
Natural Areas Journal. 12(3): 139-144. [19494]
25. Swan, Frederick R., Jr. 1970. Post-fire response of four plant
communities in south-central New York state. Ecology. 51(6): 1074-1082.
[3446]
26. Tester, John R. 1989. Effects of fire frequency on oak savanna in
east-central Minnesota. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 116(2):
134-144. [9281]
27. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. 1982.
National list of scientific plant names. Vol. 1. List of plant names.
SCS-TP-159. Washington, DC. 416 p. [11573]
28. Van Dersal, William R. 1938. Native woody plants of the United States,
their erosion-control and wildlife values. Washington, DC: U.S.
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29. Vogel, Willis G. 1981. A guide for revegetating coal minespoils in the
eastern United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-68. Broomall, PA: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Forest
Experiment Station. 190 p. [15577]
30. Voss, Edward G. 1985. Michigan flora. Part II. Dicots
(Saururaceae--Cornaceae). Bull. 59. Bloomfield Hills, MI: Cranbrook
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724 p. [11472]
FEIS Home Page
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